The Wizard Ashikabi
by plums
Summary: Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he could have never seen coming. Harry / Multi
1. Betrayals and Travels

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Original Publish Date: 2012-02-28

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-28

**Chapter 1 – Betrayals and Travels**

"Sorry, repeat that last bit," said a very tired and weary Harry Potter. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head with the futile hope it would somehow make the words he was about to hear change from the last time they were uttered. "I could've sworn you just said I had an unbreakable marriage contract drawn up in my name by someone else."

The intimidating goblin in front of him nodded gravely. Normally a goblin couldn't care less to what happened to a wand user and Harry was well aware of this fact. But this one thus far had tried to be somewhat civil to Harry which, to be brutally honest, seemed quite odd. He had never known anyone other than Hermione who had selflessly helped him in the past. Everyone else always had an angle they were trying to achieve.

He put his thoughts of crazy Goblins out of his mind, he paid attention to the words being spoken.

"A marriage contract was drawn up between your magical guardian at the time, one Albus Dumbledore and the regent of House Prewitt, one Molly Weasley. This document was only discovered two days ago when extraneous vaults opened in your name over the past decade and a half were consolidated into your trust vault. By virtue of this contract, you are to marry Ginevra Molly Weasley by her seventeenth birthday, which is August 11th 1998."

"Well, cancel it. I have no intention of marrying that girl. I'd probably get some unidentifiable disease from her anyways," said Harry, who had already mentally moved on to the next topic they were supposed to discuss. He didn't have time for nonsense like this.

"I'm sorry, Lord Potter. The contract is unassailable by the current laws of the Wizengamot. More interesting are the additional clauses found further in the contract, one of which states and I quote, '_Since the aforementioned Harry James Potter is a half-blood and not to be trusted with his own finances and civil responsibilities, House Prewitt will upon execution of the marriage, gain complete control of House Potter's finances, titles, and any periphery Houses under House Potter's control…_', which unfortunately, would include Houses such as House Black."

'_Well, isn't that interesting,'_ thought Harry, whose temper was only barely kept in check after that revelation. He had been pushed around for years by the magical world, first indirectly though the abuse he had endured by being placed with his non-magical relatives by magicals who thought they knew best. Later, it was through the constant threat of death and dismemberment on a yearly basis once he had rejoined this so-called superior society. This was the last straw. If they wanted to screw with him, he would screw right back.

"High Warlord Ragnok, I would appreciate any suggestions you may be capable of providing me. The last thing I want to do is leave my family's legacy in the hands of inbred thieves with no honor. I hope we can find a solution that would be mutually beneficial and provide good profit for all involved."

Ragnok, the powerful looking goblin who currently sat across from him smiled a very toothy fanged grin that probably would have made even the most battle hardened of goblins shit themselves silly. "I'm sure we can assuredly find something beneficial to us all, Lord Potter."

-o0o0o-

Three days and at least a dozen meetings later, Harry Potter walked out of the High Warlord's inner sanctum deep within the bowels of Gringotts bank. His mind swam with details of the newest element of insanity that has been introduced to his life and how the world still seemed to contrive new and improved ways to make his life difficult despite the war now being over. He could only sigh with the realization there seemed to be no relief in sight for him.

Just weeks ago, he had managed to achieve his so-called destiny and defeated the second major Dark Lord the wizarding world had faced during the twentieth century, Lord Voldemort.

The victory was not without cost. Almost the entire population of Great Britain's First-Generation witches and wizards were lost, slaughtered by their own magical government. Their immediate families were often captured and executed in the purge as well. Just like after the first war, those responsible had claimed to be victims of the Imperious curse again, or had plead other forms coercion justified their '_reluctant participation_' in the atrocities.

Harry seriously wished he could lower himself to the level of his enemies, annihilate them all, and let God sort the mess out. This reaction was so easy for him to ponder because he had been dragged somewhat unwillingly into the politics of the aftermath of the second rise of Voldemort.

And Politics certainly reared its ugly head often, since many of the representatives of magical non-humans species had requested the well-known pro-creatures stance of Harry during the negotiations of new treaties. The Fudge, Scrimgeour and Voldemort led governments had laid waste to essentially every treaty ever signed by Britain. The most sensitive of these re-negotiations concerned the Goblins, who requested reparations after Harry and friends stormed the depths of the bank to steal the piece of Voldemort's soul housed there. Luckily, the issue was quickly settled by the new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who managed to get Harry off with just a minor fine, which the newly reinstated Ministry graciously paid.

It was now the sixteenth of May, only two weeks after the massive Battle of Hogwarts, and now Harry found himself in a new fight: a battle for his rightful heritage. He had less than three months to avoid being condemned to a life in hell under the Weasley's thumb.

He had just left his final meeting with High Lord Ragnok. The Goblin, once the situation was explained and he had been properly appeased with a separate bribe of Galleons, had approved of Harry's plan to infiltrate Gringott's to steal a piece of the Dark Lord's soul and destroy it. He was mainly happy, not that Harry had found glaring holes in his bank's security, but that Harry had graciously and voluntarily given the contents of the Lestrange's vault over to the Goblins. All Lestranges being dead and Harry being Bellatrix's head of house turned out to be a very useful thing in the end.

Harry himself had just endured three days of explanations from Goblin Legal experts concerning his current financial options. The High Warlord had taken a personal interest in this case, and had contacted numerous Goblin legal experts in an attempt to find and exploit loopholes in the contract.

Their findings however, were not what everyone was hoping for. In the end, very few things could be found that could be turned to go in Harry's favor. The contract was unbreakable as written per the laws of the magical country of Great Britain. The clauses that stated the Weasleys gained complete control of all Potter assets regardless of whether Harry was alive or not on August 11th could not be invalidated or worked around either. Moving Harry's assets to another Gringott's branch offshore wasn't an option either, because of the newly negotiated Goblin treaties Harry himself had helped negotiate with Magical Britain. Those agreements would eventually require Gringott's to move the assets back to England when the Weasleys requested them.

The upside of their analysis was that the contract was invalid and worthless under the laws of basically any other civilized magical society in the world.

Everything that had transpired and been discovered had culminated with the meeting Harry had just left. It was decided, after intense negotiations, that for a fee of ten percent of all House Potter's liquid assets, the Goblin Nation would transfer all gold and currency holdings they currently managed on behalf of House Potter to the Gnomes of Switzerland in secret. What remained in England, the financial and economic holdings and interests, would be liquidated at cutthroat rates in order to quickly divest them. Also, any significant or well-known real estate properties held by the estate within Britain were put up for sale at prices that would encourage their liquidation within ninety days.

The one solitary property Harry would retain secret ownership of within Britain was his family's ancestral home of Potter Manor at Rowan Hill. The Goblins had already established an alternative identity that would retain ownership of the property, which had never been burned down like Dumbledore had told the public. Harry had wandered the deserted hallways of his ancestors for thirty glorious, emotional minutes before ordering the home stripped, emptied, and then locked down in stasis. All moveable physical assets owned by Harry were to be moved out of the country. The destination was a secret location below his new estate in Switzerland that only he and his elf Dobby knew the full details of once the Goblin team that built the storage cavern voluntarily allowed themselves to be obliviated of the location in exchange for a ten percent bonus.

All of his vaults within Gringotts were closed except the main Potter family vault, which 30 silver sickles were left in a neatly stacked pile in the middle of the basketball court sized room. Most heirlooms and family items were placed within newly created vaults deep underground below his new sanctuary in Switzerland.

Items that Harry would always wish to carry with him, such as his Firebolt, his few personal belongings, and journals of his parents were placed within multi-compartment trunks that Harry carried with him at all times. The trunks were kept shrunk within a bandolier like armband attached to his wand holster which only Harry could see or remove.

Then, Harry and the Goblins repeated same exact same process with the assets and financial holdings of the Ancient House of Black. Harry figured Sirius wouldn't want his family's assets, no matter how much Sirius hated his parents and cousins, to fall to true traitors such as the Weasleys. He realized he had responsibilities to Remus' and Tonks' child Teddy, his godson, so he made sure trusts were established in Teddy's name that would have money transferred into them by the gnomes each year.

Eventually, August 10th, 1998 arrived and Harry sent copies of the marriage contract to the press, both domestic and international, to be printed on the 11th. His goal was to make it worldwide public knowledge just how poorly England treated its' heroes. This also provided the additional benefit of discrediting the Weasleys, who had been doing their best to become media darlings and the epitome of what a '_family of the light_' should be.

Harry bribed an official in the floo office in order to make use of a very little known feature of the transportation system that allowed for distribution of ministry notices. With this venue, Harry delivered a notice to every home and business in England that he would be holding a press conference that day. The conference, which quickly became headline news since Harry had been out of the spotlight for two months and had been completely unreachable, drew thousands of spectators to the Ministry Atrium where it was being held. Through the Goblins, Harry had hired his own security force of ruthlessly trained squibs and ex-ministry hit-men from Voldemort's first rise.

The added security definitely helped, and he inwardly cheered as he waited patiently on the platform for the conference to start as he watched a herd of red heads stopped cold on their way to confront Harry. The security force that met them was led by a dozen of the biggest and most intimidating men Harry had ever seen. If Voldemort had used people like this instead of inbred lunatics with facial tremors and crossed-eyes like Lestrange or the Carrows, he would've had the wizarding populace in his grip far sooner than he managed.

Slowly, the crowd which had fixed its attention upon the loud and obnoxious throng of redheads returned its attention to the reason they were all in attendance. To the surprise of all present, Harry made a very short and succinct statement that he was permanently leaving England. With a wave of his hand, a multi-page document appeared in the hands of every single person present, listing in detail everything that would appear in newspapers the next day. Then Harry declared that, so long as there was a Weasley alive to tie him or his descendants against their will to a contract, Harry and his descendants would never step foot in Britain again.

And with those final words, Harry activated a portkey and left the ministry.

The reaction to the news was typical of the backwards British magical society. Most people were outraged that their hero and savior was being forced to marry someone against his will, and that the contract was designed so that everything that belonged to him was somehow going to be taken over by someone else when the marriage took effect.

But these were the common folk. Despite being systematically hunted and executed, the majority of the populace of Great Britain was by far Half-Bloods and First Generation magicals. However, despite the fact they represented the vast majority of the country's population of Britain, they were a wholly apathetic lot, who had willingly let the Ministry mistreat them for centuries.

Most Purebloods were actually incredibly happy to see the Potter and Black wealth redistributed, especially to a family as financially inept as the Weasleys. Most of them were actually counting on the Weasleys doing what they always historically had done when a financial windfall came their way.

They would lose or spend all the money within a generation, sometimes within a decade.

Harry did not leave the like he informed the shocked crowd in the Atrium. Instead, he stayed within Magical Britain one more day. This day would truly mark the day that Harry Potter decided to throw down the shackles upon him for once in his life and strike back at every single person who had wronged him. In his opinion, if wizards were going to stand back and permit the assets of House Potter and House Black to be gutted, then Harry saw no reason why the assets of said wizards weren't fair game as well.

With the aid of some surreptitiously provided maps and blueprints of the homes of prominent members of wizarding society, courtesy of the Goblins, and a time-turner whose existence had been lost in ages long past from the back of the Potter Family Vault, Harry began his revenge.

During the longest night of Harry's life, he simultaneously visited the homes of every person that had ever wronged him with the aid of the time-turner: Weasleys, members of the Order of the Phoenix who had been knowledgeable of his life at the Dursleys, the Dursleys themselves, his Aunt Marge, Former Minister Fudge, Madame Umbridge, corrupt Auror's who had helped the Death Eaters and had gotten away with it such as Dawlish, and every member of the Wizengamot who had been recorded voting against him in his sham of an underage magic trial two years previous.

They were all visited. And every one of their homes was attacked and razed to the ground.

None were spared, and no one suspected Harry was directly responsible, because there were already advance fake international news postings complete with photographs of Harry's travels circulating in the press thanks to Gringotts.

With that last act, Harry left England behind, and never looked back again for years.

-o0o0o-

The profound sense of freedom that Harry gained from leaving England had been something he had never had before in his life. He travelled the world under an assumed name, where he used his anonymity to study, learn life, and relax.

The biggest influence upon his life suddenly became his parents, as the previously lost journals of his mother, father, and Sirius were pulled from storage boxes from a dark corner of the Potter Family vault and from Sirius' trust vault. He found more stories about the three people he loved more than anyone else in the world from those pages than anyone had ever bothered telling him previously. The adventures, the jokes, the pranks, and the unfiltered true history of his parents had documented within these pages slowly became worth more than all the material wealth he had fought tooth and nail to keep from thieves.

The one problem he encountered as he read the journals of the trio was the realization that his parents and Sirius had been incredibly intelligent. His mother likely would have been able to run circles around Hermione. Upon reflection, he slowly became well aware of the limitations of his own education, and his previous lack of studiousness. To counter this, he travelled to South America and enrolled at the hidden Mayan Enclave with the initial goal of simply finishing his NEWTs. The more he studied there however, the more he was both amazed and disgruntled by how little of the world of magic he truly had been exposed to while in England's educational system.

The Mayans were excellent practitioners of rituals of life and death, and Harry learned much about his past, present, and future while there. The identities of many who had betrayed him and many who had helped him behind the scenes, often to their own detriment, were revealed to him as the strands of his life and cruel sheers of fate were analyzed by true seers.

It almost made him sick to think about how badly he had been duped by those around him. Obliviations, compulsions to avoid specific people, loyalty potions, and blocks on his very magic itself. As the list of wrongs committed against him grew and grew, Harry found himself forced to review his life objectively with the knowledge he now possessed and was slowly shocked by the revelations he had when began writing down all the things that had happened to him.

Harry knew his magic had the potential to be strong beyond belief on rare occasions, most aptly demonstrated by his ability to drive over a hundred Dementors away from his godfather Sirius at the end of his third year. It was on special occasions such as these, that Harry's magic would fight against the blocks on them, almost shattering them completely each year at Hogwarts when faced with the deadly events that threatened him. The broken blocks were never completely undone, and new ones were always simply placed over the existing restrictions on his magic during his extended hospital visits.

The removal of the remnants of no less than nine blocks on his magical core had put Harry in coma lasting a month and completely changed him in ways he could never have imagined. He was physically and mentally stronger, healthier, and his eye sight improved to the point where glasses were no longer necessary. His magic grew and reveled in being free for the first time in seventeen years.

And with the correction of all the abuse that had almost ritually been inflicted upon him for the last seventeen years of his life, Harry rededicated himself to his studies and tried to become the man he knew his parents would be proud of. Suddenly in his mind, to fight and defeat a Dark Lord wasn't something to be proud if all he went on to do afterwards was to become a drunk or arrogant sod that brought home a new woman each night. Harry wanted to better himself while he learned about magic, kept his sense of humor, and became a better overall person.

His studies at the Enclave included wards, curse breaking, spell crafting, enchanting, and a whole host of skills which Harry dove into with a reckless abandon. As he delved further into the study of wards, he developed the very useful skill to see magic, also known as Mage-Sight. Mage-Sight was something that Harry had heard very few wizards speak about, and he always assumed it was only the rare wizard like Dumbledore who possessed the ability. Mage-Sight after all was what allowed the old fossil to see through Harry's invisibility cloak and then boast about it afterwards in his first year. Harry now learned that it was a trainable art, which of course was banned within England for being a dark ability.

The biggest life-changing difference was the emergence of intentional wandless magic. Previously Harry had only rarely performed wandless magic, and it only occurred in times of great stress and emotional upheaval. Previously uncontrolled magical outburst such as blowing up his aunt Marge and then the subsequent greater feat where he wandlessly opened multiple locks upon the cupboard under the stairs, or his actions during the summer before his fifth year where he able to lit his wand when it wasn't in his hand while being attacked by Dementors in an alleyway. Previously, these monumental feats were few and far between. Now with his added control, he found that he only rarely needed to reach for a wand since his magic just seemed to know how to react to his needs.

He always thought himself to be a powerful wizard when the going gets tough, but never found a way to harness that power and be more than merely mediocre all other times. Now he realized the truly powerful moments came when the blocks would be partially shattered when his magic realized he truly needed his full capabilities.

The hospital stays that occurred after such bouts of magic were when the blocks were reapplied by Dumbledore, leaving him weak and bedridden for days.

With his body, mind, and spirit in better shape than any previous time in his life, he departed from South America and went to the American Southwest, to learn something he felt had been denied to him for years: Animagus Training.

Animagus training was something he had always wanted to begin, but never found the time. It was also technically not legal to learn within the borders of England. After all, what pureblood would lower themselves to willingly transform into a filthy animal. Harry could not find any books on it amongst his possessions. It seemed any sources on the art had long been pilfered by Albus Dumbledore when he ransacked the Potter and Black Libraries.

So, it was bittersweet when two weeks after completing his Animagus transformation into a white and blue phoenix, Harry received a highly weathered book written by his father and Sirius. The book had been reclaimed after a tipoff from Aberforth Dumbldore led the Goblins to some possible secretive caches of Albus' misbegotten goods. He wished he had received the books years earlier when it would have been far more useful, but it was one more piece of his father and Sirius returned to him that could be passed on to future generations of his family.

The unfortunate thing in Harry's mind was that rarely used his animagus form once it was learned. It was far too distinctive. What was far more significant to Harry and cherished was the memory of doing what his father and Sirius had done. In the end, Harry truly did just want to make his parents proud, and the chance to follow in his father's and Sirius' footsteps was just one small way to achieve that self-admitted unachievable goal. Afterwards, he would only use the form to bottle tears from the phoenix in case he or someone he knew experienced a life-threatening illness or injury.

After America, Harry decided to dive more deeply into some of the subjects his few remaining friends found enjoyable. He travelled to Siberia, where he learned mysteries of the weather, and how to make plants grow in the harshest of environments. He had long written down and collected bits of the knowledge to send to his few loyal friends back home. A letter with the more esoteric spells and information from Siberia had only been sent for a few days previous to Neville Longbottom, when Neville showed up himself to enthusiastically learn right alongside him.

It would become a tradition of sorts, with every new place visited, Harry would send information to one old friend who would inevitably join Harry at the remote location for a period of time. The knowledge gained on these pilgrimages of knowledge would eventually be taken back to England and used to slowly undermine the backwards and stunted views that had taken root like a cancer once again within England.

Luna joined him in New Zealand at a reclusive preserve for endangered magical and non-magical animals. Hermione made her appearance at the famous Library of Alexandria when the curator, impressed with Harry's very eclectic interests, asked if Harry knew anyone with a desire to pursue an apprenticeship in the preservation of magical history via tomes, parchment, papyrus, and digital means. Fleur divorced Bill Weasley after his family's actions towards Harry came to light and joined him at one of his Chateau's in France, where the two learned the ropes at how to run a succesful vineyard. She liked it so much she quit her job at Gringotts and permanently moved there where she immediately took over the day to day operations of the business and expanded its operations.

In the end, Harry travelled wherever his whim fancied and departed whenever he felt he had learned enough at each location.

The downside of his travels was when he encountered less than welcome reminders of home. The British Ministry of Magic periodically had hired bounty hunters to try and drag Harry back to England. To Harry's great amusement, the hunter's assumption that the bounty was on an uneducated wizard with a barely a sixth year's grasp of magic turned out to be source of their failure every time.

Finally, after the third attempt in so many years to kidnap Harry, he had had enough.

With the way his skills had grown, he easily captured the dozen bounty hunters that had been the latest to have underestimated him. With confessions written in their own blood attached to their foreheads via sticking charms, Harry portkeyed the criminals directly into the Grand Assembly Hall of the ICW headquarters in Geneva in the midst of an International conference. The voices of over five hundred witches and wizards suddenly spoke out in unison against England, and heralded a new level of international outrage over isolated government's behavior.

Sanctions imposed by the _real _wizarding world against small pure-blood ensconced government of Britain destroyed the economy of the country. Purebloods owned everything in England, but did nothing on their own. Almost ninety percent of the goods within Magical England were imported from other countries, and with a complete worldwide lockdown on all exports bound to Britain, supplies of medical potions and numerous other necessities were gone within weeks.

In response to riots and increase in purebloods stealing from muggles to survive, an international peacekeeping force was deployed to the country. The world at large declared it necessary because the vast number incidents that violated the International Statute of Secrecy all occurred within the borders of the British Isles. Within three months of the final attempt to kidnap Harry, a new government was in place in England with almost the entirety of the upper crust of its society and former government now entombed within Azkaban due to crimes prosecuted by the peacekeeping force. With this final action, Harry felt, at last, the war against Voldemort was finally over.

This did not mean Harry had any intention of returning home anytime soon.

-o0o0o-

Eight years after he vanished from Britain, Harry decided his current next stop would be Japan.

Japan was a non-ICW county, which meant the country's loose and secretive coalition of Magical denizens had no desire to hide the existence of magic from their population, and had therefore not signed on to the International Statute of Secrecy. They had stubbornly held this line for hundreds of years, despite huge sanctions waged both Magically and Non-Magically after the county's defeat during World War II.

His inspiration for this trip had originated with the time he had spent with magically-aware Monks in Tibet. The experience inspired him to attempt to learn more of their subtle arts while in a new setting such as Japan. The country was long rumored to have a few secretive institutions to study at related to their Buddhist religion. He just needed to find them.

Unfortunately, Japan had not been quite what he expected it to be.

He had been in Tokyo for a few weeks now, where he simply wandered the small isolated magical districts, sampled the local cuisine, and tried to take in yet another culture's eccentricities. The number of people who lived in the small country astounded him, as did the number of Magicals who moved about in broad daylight and effortlessly mingled with common citizens. Harry had long ago developed the habit of casually utilizing Mage-Sight at random intervals, and the simple act where turned it on here in the crowded streets had definitely been an eye opener. Within each crowd of common citizens, there were always a handful of Magicals that commuted to work. Their actions were simply those of people who simply went about their daily lives in a manner absolutely no different than one would expect from Non-Magicals.

It seemed to be the perfect society, where Magicals intermingled on a daily basis with mundanes. Unfortunately, he had no luck finding _trained_ magical users. Most people with any sort of magical aura he had come across had never been trained to utilize it consciously.

After a few weeks, where he had tried and failed to find an educational center in Tokyo for magic, he decided to take the day off and simply tour the city. He had headed out in the direction of the city's water front, with a vague goal finding a river tour when he suddenly felt something.

It was not like the nervous feeling he sometimes got when unknown people would place him under observation, or the urge to fully release his powers when an imminent threat was nearby. It was more like something nearby was powerful but had not noticed him yet. He slowed his pace and casually walked towards and leaned against a nearby building. A tourist guide map was quickly brought upwards to obscure his face while he pretended to read.

He palmed a wand and cast a one-way transparency spell on the leaflet often used by Aurors to allow them to snoop through walls on unsuspecting suspects. It allowed him to see clearly through the map as if it wasn't there and left the random pedestrians who passed by none the wiser.

With a casual look around, he found there was no one in particular who stood out, but then he enabled his Mage-Sight and got one of his first genuine surprises in a long time.

A stranger walked on the other side of the street in the opposite direction Harry had previously travelled. Their aura even now sent powerful irregular bursts of magic in all directions that Harry observed in quiet fascination. The power at the person's fingertips seemed barely controlled and absolutely wild in nature. It was almost as if something was broken in the person, and a considerable portion of the person's energy was dedicated towards the simple control and prevention of a magically induced outburst of power.

The Mage-Sight was removed after he decided to get a clearer look at the person behind this enigma. The distorted and muddled deep red blur with black-streaks transitioned into a woman who walked casually down the street. She had messy, silver hair with a topknot that extended down her back. She was dressed in a black military uniform with a loose and open robe covering the whole ensemble. The robe and uniform both had one device, a bird with feathers surrounding it on the left breast as the only identifying mark. She carried a long katana at her side effortlessly and walked with a physical presence that stated quite clearly she was someone who didn't really need the sword to inflict damage.

The woman was directly across the street from Harry when suddenly she stopped. She stilled as if battle may come at any moment. He watched with great interest as her hand moved almost faster than he could see to the hilt of her sword. The woman immediately back up towards a wall, which eliminated one avenue of approach to her. She looked around the street, almost like a predator that was now gleefully prepared to pounce upon prey which had foolishly walked into its territory.

Then her eyes settled upon Harry across the street, who had casually leaned against a wall while he innocuously read the over-large leaflet map of the local hotspots. Despite the distance of the wide road, Harry thought he saw her eyes narrow as she identified him as the source of her consternation.

'_Well_,' Harry thought, '_this definitely was one of the more powerful local magic users he had hoped to find. Only question is, will she help me or kill me?_'

It was probably smart not to tempt fate with the obviously deadly female, but when had doing the smart thing ever been the route chosen by Harry Potter. He looked to his right and noticed a small teashop.

'_Yes, that should do quite nicely_,' he thought to himself.

Harry lowered and folded the leaflet before he placed it back into the bottomless pocket of the very bright and touristy bag that loosely hung from his shoulder and across his chest. He then deliberately looked across the street and locked eyes with the now dangerously poised woman.

Throwing caution to the wind, he cocked his head, raised an eyebrow, and threw the famous Potter lop-sided grin at her.

If anything, the woman seemed to emit a palpable sense of rage at the sheer audacity of Harry not running away, soiling himself in terror. After he gave an exaggerated side-long gaze at the tea shop, and then back at the woman, Harry briefly nodded his head to the right, where he hoped the woman would take the hint and follow. He never looked back as he walked into the tea shop.


	2. The Black Sekirei

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Chapter Original Post Date: 2012-02-28

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-28

**Chapter 2 – The Black Sekirei**

Harry had been seated in a shadowed back corner of the shop less than a minute before the imposing woman walked into the shop. With no hesitation whatsoever, she immediately walked towards Harry without the need to look around to ascertain his location.

Harry casually fired a wandless translation spell at the woman from under the table. Harry had decided long ago he had no need to ever learn foreign languages after he discovered a translation spell in one of the older Potter tomes that wasn't stolen by Dumbledore. The spell literally made it so any language heard by the spelled person would sound like the person's native language to them. The spell was quite good at subtle nuances of current slang as well, and was perfect aid to casually into a new society without the immediate stigma of being considered a foreigner.

He eventually refined the spell by combining it with a modified charm created by Remus of all people. It was a joke spell from the Mauraders, which would make a person speaking appear to not have their mouth move, and another random person's mouth within eyesight of the victim appear to move instead. When the spells were combined with some tweaks it allowed for the affected individual to not see something akin to a badly dubbed foreign film, where the mouths did not move correctly with the sounds that were being heard.

The interesting thing that happened when the spell hit the woman was that she flinched slightly. She looked around casually, yet the motions were quite deliberate in nature. Clearly she had anticipated an attack coming from somewhere else in the room.

'_So, sensitive to magic, but unable to precisely determine the origin of a spell,_' Harry thought. '_This is going to be interesting._' Harry suddenly found the old Hogwarts motto floating through his head, and found that his current actions seemed to be going completely against the very wise age old piece of wisdom that said '_Never tickle a sleeping dragon_.'

Which is exactly what his current actions felt like he was doing.

He stood slowly as she approached, and graciously said, "Would you care for a spot of tea, my lady?" while he gestured at the same time at the table near he was seated at.

Despite being three meters away, she tensed at the motion, ready to slash at him with the sword. She was definitely normally a kill first ask questions later sort of person.

However, the hesitation only lasted a second. Then she seemed to decide she was amused by this game for the moment, as she smiled a tight, well-rehearsed fake smile. She stared directly into Harry's eyes and without blinking, purred at him. "Sure".

It had been a very long time since Harry had heard a solitary word spoken in such a manner. The single word carried so many more meanings then simply an agreement to sit and have tea.

The word promised pain if the conversation proved not beneficial to her. The word promised death upon betrayal. When Harry then reviewed it a third time in his mind, he decided the word pretty much promised the likelihood of something bad happening to him regardless of what he did.

He couldn't help it and internally laughed. This was definitely going to be fun.

They sat down and a waitress immediately came over and asked for their orders. They both quickly ordered and watched as the woman walked away. He turned to his guest and asked, "Would you allow me to place some privacy wards up?"

The only response was a sudden quirk of one eyebrow which was contrasted by the glare of her other eye. But it was the slight tilt of her head that hinted that she had no clue what he had just asked. But the nod of curiosity that followed a few seconds later was all he was really interested in at the moment. Harry turned away and his wand flashed from the hidden holster on his forearm.

Anti-apparition, anti-portkey, silencing, eavesdropping, repelling, and anti-scrying wards flashed up in seconds from years of practice. It was a spell chain Harry had learned by heart. It was based originally upon the protections Hermione had come up with all those years ago during their year-long camping trip from hell. Since then he had expanded upon them greatly, the original eight spells now lengthened to almost two dozen spells.

He turned back to her and saw the eyebrow still quirked and her glare now demanded answers as to what he had just done. He leaned back, made a discrete gesture with his wrist that caused the wand in his hand to vanish back into the holster, and picked up his tea.

"Those are wards. Spells to make sure our conversation stays private to anyone who might interrupt us. Neither magical nor technological forms of eavesdropping will make it through what's around this table right now."

Harry barely caught the slight widening of the eyes that greeted this statement before it was quickly suppressed. She was obviously quite well practiced at suppressing her emotions overtly. However, she was definitely not a trained Occlumens, and her internal thoughts were practically screaming at him as she sat there.

She was definitely a killer, and almost every other thought that crossed her conscious mind at the moment could be summarized with, "_He's dangerous, kill him and run now._"

This thought was being fought though by the simultaneous workings of a highly analytical fighter's mind that told her to evaluate the level of threat he posed first, and that need to know what Harry was kept her in her seat for the time being.

Figuring it was time to move the conversation along before his paranoid impromptu date decided to literally '_cut'_ her losses, he decided to introduce himself, "I apologize for not introducing myself, I'm Harry Potter, traveler and exile of England."

He extended his hand, debating whether to shake or kiss it if she reciprocated, it would all depend upon her response.

With no hesitation, she extended her hand and said, "Sekirei Number 4, Karasuba. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter."

Harry gently touched her fingers, bringing them forward as he said, "A pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman".

He gently kissed her knuckle. Her fingers were calloused and rough. Despite being a beauty, she was obviously no slouch and knew the value of hard work. The whole time, he had never looked away from her face other than to order his tea and to set the wards, but he finally truly looked at the woman across from her. She appeared older than him, but that could simply be from having lived a rough life. She was clearly half-exhausted, with large bags under her eyes and an ever-present weariness that barely showed through the feeling of menace that surrounded her.

He also filed away the '_Number 4_' and word '_Sekirei_' to be pondered later.

After he pulled away from and released her hand, she seemed amused at the action, and her thoughts were broadcasted towards him so loudly his passive Legillimency needed no real effort to pick them up, '_The stupid human seeks to woo me._'

'_She isn't human._' Harry pondered this information, and in spite of himself found himself definitely intrigued by the news. It also meant he had no need to beat around the bush and could ask questions immediately.

"I'll get straight to the point then, I travel the world, visiting various schools and institutions of magic. I came to Japan to learn about magic of this country, since any real information about the magic that's practiced here never leaves or is heard about, since your country has refused to become a member of the ICW."

"Clearly you're a powerful magic user. I could feel your aura as you walked up the other side of the street towards me when you were still five hundred meters away. I was hoping to ask you about who trained you, where the local schools or Masters are, stuff like that."

As Harry spoke, her eyebrows slowly rose higher and higher. Finally, when he finished, she stared at him, and finally laughed a low haughty laugh. "That has to be the single most ingenious pickup line I've ever heard, I won't kill you simply cause of that. But, I believe our conversation is now over."

After she stood, she muttered under her breath and chuckled afterwards, "Magic, seriously?"

Harry raised his hands slowly, in an effort to placate her, "Wait, please? Just for a moment? Would you care for me to prove it to you, in a completely innocuous manner?"

She stared at Harry, silently weighing the proper course of action she would take. Harry could tell that she still hadn't decided if he was a threat or not, merely that she thought him an imaginative foreigner who was still actively trying to get into her pants despite being called out on his bluff.

The woman sat back down and said in a clearly sarcastic yet amused tone, "Sure, amaze me with your magicians tricks, oh grand sorcerer."

'_Well, this was certainly going to be a fun time walking the razors edge_,' thought Harry. He quickly decided the spell he already cast on her would be his best bet to prove his claims true.

"First, I ask you to not attempt to attack me until I've finished talking," Harry raised his eyebrows at her, while he waited for an acknowledgement from her.

After ten very long seconds, where her amused smile vanished from her lips and was replaced by something quite calculating, she very slowly nodded.

"I don't speak Japanese. I assume that's the language you hear me speaking to you at the moment?"

The brief nod was the only acknowledgement Harry received.

"When I first left England I went to South America to finish up my basic education. I quickly realized I had a small problem because I didn't speak Spanish. Before bothering to learn the new language, I tried to see if there was a magical solution first. I found an old spell my family created a long time ago. When cast upon someone, they will understand literally any language spoken on this planet for the next twelve hours while the spell stays active."

"That's what I cast upon you as you walked up when you entered the store. I think you felt it, cause you looked around at the time like you expected an incoming attack, but you weren't able to figure out that it was me who cast it."

"Would you like me to prove that I cast it on you and I'm not making all of this stuff up? I'll do it using the waitress since I cast it on her as we ordered."

Her only movement was another brief nod, followed by the somewhat curious look to her eyes being replaced by a cold wariness. He waved their waitress over, casting a wandless _Finite Incantatum_ at her as she approached.

"Excuse me, but could I bother you for another tea please?"

The waitress looked at Harry strangely, and didn't understand why he suddenly spoke another language. Harry turned to Karasuba and asked "You heard me speaking Japanese and understood me just now, right? Ask her if she understood what I just asked?"

Karasuba asked the woman and the waitress quickly shook her head, "No."

Karasuba turned to him with a now quirked eyebrow and Harry could easily see a slightly impressed smirk tug at one corner of her mouth. Harry's wand immediately flashed and he incanted "_Obliviate_" at the waitress, and then he quickly recast the translation charm on her.

"You don't remember walking up to this table just now, all you know is that we've both asked for another cup of tea and you were about to go and bring it to us."

The waitress blinked and shakily wandered away from the table.

"Believe now? By the way, the spell I just cast on her removed the memory of the event so she doesn't think we're strange and pay more attention to us then she normally would have. If you want further proof, I can remove the spell and re-add it to you just so you can see for yourself?"

She nodded her assent, and Harry quickly removed the charm from her and said in English, "You are the most beautiful woman I've seen in a very long time."

The smirk returned full-force this time and her eyes had a bit of merriment in them when she responded in kind in English, "It probably would've been quite a bit more humorous if you had spoken that in a language I didn't already know, but thank you for the compliment. You're still not getting in my pants."

Harry laughed out loud and mindlessly recast the charm on midsentence as Harry responded with "But did you at least appreciate the amazing English accent?"

Karasuba gave a small chuckle that quickly stopped as she realized she saw his hand move. After the movement, Harry switched from English to Japanese immediately afterwards.

"Ok, you've convinced me, what exactly did you want from me again?"

She was still very weary of him, but she seemed to at least think that I wasn't merely here to hit on her.

Harry sat back, and smiled at her again, "Like I said, ever since having to leave my home country, I just travel the world learning new kinds of magic that I wouldn't have been able to been exposed to otherwise"

"I've visited, North and South America, Siberia, Australia, Egypt, and a whole bunch of other obscure places in between, and now I'm in Japan. I've been doing this for the last eight years. I've just been roaming wherever I think might be interesting to go next. And now, here I am."

"Most people I've talked to don't know of any schools here in the country to teach magic. I've been here three weeks, and you are by far the most powerful magical person I've seen, and you appear to have some magical training. I can see your aura, it's very strong, very wild in fact, and it seems a lot of your energy is devoted to simply reigning in its power so it doesn't wreak havoc on things."

"The ability you're demonstrating right now would at least lend itself to believing you have had at least some instruction, from a school or during a master/apprentice sort of training."

"Again, I was hoping you could point me in the right direction."

Karasuba nodded. Harry could infer that she acknowledged what Harry said as likely true, but simultaneously thought he could still be a potential threat to her, especially since she was able to sense him across the street. Realization dawned upon him that he hadn't gotten to the point where she would be ready to pass information back yet.

"So you're not human then?" was the next question posed to Harry.

Harry definitely had not expected that question from her. '_Come to think of it,_' Harry thought, '_I'm not sure how to answer the question either._'

"I guess you could say…" he paused a few moments, where he scrunched his forehead in thought, "we're an evolved human, natural selection and all that evolution nonsense."

"That really doesn't answer the question," smirked Karasuba.

"Well, you'd get plenty of 'Magicals' saying they are superior to humans, but to be honest those kind of Wizards who speak up like that overtly are usually absolute morons, believing only in purity of blood and their own superiority to first generation Magicals with no documentable wizarding lineage."

She laughed again, this time it was genuine and carried none of the hint of malice that her previous mirth had hinted at, "You honestly call yourselves wizards?"

At this Harry ducked his head down sheepishly, "I guess it is pretty silly, but it's the name I've grown up knowing while in England. There are many names for us around the world for people with our abilities: shaman, warlocks." Harry snorted and followed with, "Hell, I heard a drunken idiot even swear he was a Jedi once."

She sat in silence for a bit. It was still readily apparent, as she sat there and sipped her tea, there were still components of Harry's story she had not totally accepted and wrapped her head around.

Finally, she looked up and asked, "So why did you leave, or were 'exiled' as you put it?"

She was certainly interested now in Harry's story, both from a knowledge perspective and from a tactical one. The woman clearly thought if there were a group of part-humans on this planet with powers like his she should get as much information as possible on them. At this point, he certainly didn't care how or what she knew about Magicals, but he also was weary of telling his history of being betrayed dozens of times throughout my years of travels. So he decided to give a bit of back story and try and push the full tale off for a bit.

"It's a long story," Harry said. He took a deep breath and pondered how to tell it simply and concisely.

"I'll try and keep it somewhat brief and short. Suffice it to say, there was your stereotypical bad guy wizard running around England from the mid-seventies and into the early eighties. I was a year and a half old when the guy killed my parents, and then tried to kill me. The killing curse, which was considered unstoppable at that point by everyone on the planet, bounced off my forehead instead of killing me."

Harry brushed my messy hair aside, showing her the scar which could only be faintly seen at this point.

"It bounced off me and hit him, temporarily defeating him, but not quite killing him either. I became an instant celebrity. I stopped the war that the wizards in England were only half-ass fighting anyways. The 'enemy' in the war were the family members of people in power, so they weren't really pursuing them or caring much for the mere commoners dying in the conflict."

"But of course, I never found out any of this until I was eleven. A manipulative old man had me taken from the ruins of my parent's cottage where they were hiding. He essentially abandoned me like a bottle of milk on my mother's sister's doorstep. They were people who hated my mother and magic in general."

Harry took a deep breath. He was absolutely not going to go into detail about the Dursleys, "It was rough, that's all I'll say about those next ten years."

"I eventually found out I was a wizard and went to the 'amazing' wizard school of Hogwarts in Scotland, run by the same manipulative wanker that stuck me in an abusive home. Basically, every year I was there, I was nearly killed multiple times."

"Eventually, the wizard that the society believed I had miraculously killed when I was a baby came back when I was fourteen, only no one believed me when I told them. Our press and media basically slandered me for a year, before the dark moron finally exposed his existence again on accident."

Harry then decided to gloss over a lot of the crazy details of the final two years, because all that really mattered was who died. He continued, "To wrap it up, the creepy old man who did his best to ruin my life got himself killed while being an idiot, but left a few parting gifts to screw with my life that I found out about after I permanently killed the dark wizard."

"The thing you have to understand is that the Magical part of Great Britain still lives three hundred years in the past, and still uses archaic things like marriage contracts between so-called noble families for business and political alignments. They're not valid anywhere but in England since they don't require any sort of magical bonding of two souls or vows at the time they were signed, but they are enforced like they were at least within their country."

"Long story short, the old man set me up to marry the daughter of one of his biggest supporting families. I also found out they all had been lacing my food with 'love potions' keyed toward the little slut for years. Her very poor family was to receive all my family's wealth in the event of my death even if I wasn't married to her yet. Her family would also take complete control of all my assets upon marriage because as a 'dirty half-blood'," and Harry pointed emphatically to his chest a few times here to drive those words home, "I wasn't worthy of my father's pure-blood heritage because my mother had sullied the line with her dirty blood."

Harry then leaned back, and smiled a grim smile at Karasuba, "Luckily, I found out about all this two and a half months before they were going to surprise me with all of it. In response, I had the bankers in England, for a very large fee, move my family's wealth to Switzerland, sold all my properties and holdings in the country, and then left England the day before I was going to be dragged off to a shotgun wedding."

"I may also have had the contract printed not only in England's newspapers, but in the international press as well so everyone knew what scumbags they were. The so-called war-heroes exposed as thieves. And I may have also not quite left the country when I told everyone I would, and then proceeded to raze the houses of anyone who ever slandered or acted against me to the ground."

"Since then, I've been travelling. I have an estate hidden and protected in Switzerland that I've basically moved all of my inherited belongings, but I've never lived or slept there for longer than a week in any given year. I've just going wherever, learning whatever subjects interest me. That was eight years ago."

Throughout the story, she simply shook her head more and more in disbelief at what he had endured.

He broke the silence that followed the conclusion of his tale and, "I'm sure I could expand the story further if you want, but we would likely be here for hours if you wanted me to describe every time one of those morons back there put me in a life-threatening situation or betrayed me in some manner."

"Basically, as long as that other family exists, a Potter cannot return to England because that contract would still be in effect and could tie down my descendants to some descendant of that family."

"So that's why I'm exiled."

Harry took a sip of tea finally and watched her as she processed everything he had told her. She had listened attentively as he glossed over the events of his life. She seemed half-surprised that he told her all this up-front, and that seemed to break the ice with her.

"Quite an interesting story you have there. There's no one you still talk to from back there?"

"There's a few." Harry took another sip from his tea and inwardly cringed. International tea was never as good as it was in England.

"I have a friend who just lives and breathes magical plants, the stranger and more potential to kill or strangle you the better. My time in Siberia really exposed me to a lot of earth and environmental magic, and when I sent him my notes, he was literally standing outside my hotel door a day later. Most wizards have no common sense. He was standing outside in the middle of a Siberian winter underdressed and shivering, begging me to help him get the same training."

"I still have some good friends, they're just not allowed to really advertise they're in contact with me, and I only get to see them every few years. A lot of people there are still plotting and dreaming of ways to get to me. Their goal is still to steal my families' assets, but probably more importantly, my families' magical knowledge."

"The libraries of ancient families are sometimes as important if not more important than the material wealth they've accumulated. I try and pass on some of the spells I found in my library to friends, and all of them understand they can never say where they got the information from."

Harry understood that he did not quite have permission to ask her questions yet. This sit-down was becoming more of an interview where he had to prove himself in some manner before she would open up a bit and disclose information. He just had to sit and hope her next question or the ones following gave the opening to ask a logical question in return.

"So, you said you saw me from down the street somehow, how did you manage that one?"

Karasuba swore she saw his eyes glow green as he looked around for a brief moment, but the coloration disappeared almost before it registered with her.

Turning back to the white haired woman, Harry smiled ruefully. "Unfortunately, we can't really do that here inside, would you care go to outside so I can show you what I did?"

"Sure," was the curt, one word response, again hinting that betrayal would be swiftly dealt with.

Harry laughed with just a bit of relief. The hard part was over. He just had to sell her a bit more and she would hopefully tell him a bit of information for his troubles so he could get going.

She was going to be a bit more difficult than most people to get information out of, but she wasn't anywhere near the worst. He couldn't count the number of times he had nearly been eviscerated or torched into a cinder by paranoid magical users who thought he was there to simply cause them trouble.

Karasuba definitely had no fear of the law or people here. She was simply weary of Harry being an agent of one of her enemies, which he guessed to be numerous in number.

Harry paid for their tea, and as they both stood up, he dispelled the wards with a casual wave of his hands towards the rest of the tea shop. When the wards dropped, her eyes snapped to his. "I certainly felt that, was that you undoing the privacy spells you mentioned?" she asked.

"Yeah, as long as you're the caster, they're quite easy to sense and remove."

The two started walking out the shop side by side and Harry elaborated further, "However, let's say someone else wished to barge in on us while we were sitting there and attempted to break through to eavesdrop. They would've been standing there for at least ten minutes, a few feet from us, unable to see us at all. The entire time they were doing that, they would be very visible to us while trying to tear all the spells down I cast."

"We definitely would've had time to respond to it at our leisure without them even seeing us as we prepared. Nor would they be able to see the response as it blew the remains of their corpses apart."

Karasuba smirked, "In my line of work, something like that would be quite useful."

"When I don't want to be found, it's usually very hard for me someone else to do so. It takes a bit of training to get to the point where it would practical to use, but I bet someday you could get to that point."

As we came outside, Harry looked around and noticed that the lunchtime crowd had definitely increased. In fact it was quite hard to easily see through the mass of people as he looked around.

Harry groaned and said, "There's too many people out right now because of lunch, it'll be hard to see a big part of the crowd easily."

Harry looked up instead and nodded to himself. He pointed at the roof of a twenty story building across the street, "I can apparate us up to the roof of that building over there, and we can look at the crowds easier that way if you want?"

Karasuba asked the obvious question, "What exactly is involved when you apparate?"

Harry considered for a moment how to explain it. "Well, easy explanation is, you teleport from one location to another."

Her eyebrows both rose at this possibility, and she definitely seemed interested.

"However, the slightly more accurate explanation is that I, and anyone I drag along with, am compressed very uncomfortably through a wormhole that feels about the size of a straw and then you appear somewhere else very suddenly. People usually lose their balance and fall on their asses whiles getting used to it."

"Oh, and its fast, dizzying, and people tend to throw up their first few times doing it, but you get used to it eventually."

Karasuba wrinkled her nose in distaste at the very thought of it and said "I think I'll jump over there myself and meet you there, thank you very much," and with that, she literally jumped twenty stories in the air, across the road, and onto the rooftop of the building Harry had pointed out.

Harry wasn't sure which fact was more interesting. That he had just seen this woman jump like Superman or the fact that no one even acknowledged that it had occurred.

After he laughed quietly to himself, he cast a notice-me-not spell on his clothes simply due to habit, and then apparated to the rooftop next to Karasuba. With a sudden pop, Harry appeared, and Karasuba's sword was instantly unsheathed and resting across his throat

Harry raised an eyebrow at the instrument of death that was half an inch from producing an invitation for to join the legendary Headless Hunt. For some reason though, he found the situation entertaining. He gave half an amused smile and smirked, "Hello darling, did you miss me?"

A glare was his only response for a few moments before she lowered her sword.

"You should take care to describe your powers a bit more thoroughly before appearing suddenly and loudly next to someone trained such as myself."

A lop-sided grin was Harry's only response to her as she sheathed her deadly looking katana.

'_A sword… that might be a method of payment if she decides to help me_,' Harry pondered after watching the fluid and graceful motion of the sword returning to its sheath that she performed effortlessly without looking.

Filing that away, right next to the meaning of the word 'Sekirei' and 'Number 4', Harry stepped up to the edge of the building, leaned against the ledge, and looked down.

"Perfect. Much better view from up here."

"Now, there is an ability most people with magic can learn eventually called Mage-Sight. Normally one learns this through years of meditation and training. It's very useful for things like scoping out and tearing down wards like I just had up in the tea shop. However, the way to cheat is to have someone cast an aura sensory spell on your eyes."

"I can do this for you, but be careful as you approach the ledge. You can quickly lose spatial awareness while using this and easily lose your balance while adjusting to it. I don't doubt after seeing your little jump earlier that falling from here would mean zilch to you, but I figured I would throw that out there anyways."

"May I cast it on you?"

A simple nod was the only response Harry got other than the expectant small smirk she now eyed him with. '_She certainly doesn't talk much_," was all Harry could think before he added a final bit of information.

"A last warning, don't look directly at me, without closing your eyes first, and slowly opening them while facing me. I'm a bit brighter than most people."

Another quirk of her eyebrows was all Harry got. Half tempted to call her Spock or Teal'c at this point, Harry asked her to look forward and close her eyes in order to reduce any disorientation it would bring.

Harry waved a wand at her eyes, and then told her to slowly open them. She opened them and looked down in wonder as her eyes showed her things she never could see before.

"Look over the edge at the people below us, you'll see what I was talking about, and remember to not look at me yet." Harry offered casually.

She looked down, and could see the crowds of people below. "So normal humans look dull, as if in black and white, almost lifeless," she observed with a whisper.

"Yep, those are Non-Magicals as they are commonly referred to throughout the world. The politically incorrect term for them is muggles," offered Harry helpfully.

Harry continued, "The people who glow very faintly are usually called squibs. They cannot access magic themselves, but they often have relatives who do. In one or two generations, the ability to intentionally use magic will likely resurface with their descendants. Looks like there's quite a few of them down there today, so you should have plenty of examples of what they look like."

Another nod of her head was the only acknowledgement he received from the stoic woman.

Harry continued, "The brighter more colorful folks are full-fledged magical users. None seemed to me to have the tell-tale hint of training in their aura's, which is why I haven't approached any of them."

Harry took a deep breath, "That's also why I approached you today. Slowly look down at yourself."

She did, and let out a gasp at what she saw.

Harry tried to describe to her what she was seeing, "As you can see, your aura is very bright, much brighter than the ones you saw down there on the street. What really drew me towards talking to you are the waves of magic you see emanating from yourself, that's what I felt as you approached me on the street this morning."

"If you look even closer at yourself, you'll see that your aura compresses and expands with each pulse, like your magic is trying to rein in all this extra power for a while, then bleeds off the wild magic in a burst, and then flexes down on itself again. Normally, it takes training to do this."

With a quiet approach from behind, he spoke softly, and cautiously to her, "It also tells me something traumatic likely happened to you at some point. Traumatic events affect magic users in a lot of different ways, and there's often no rhyme or reason for what happens. Whatever it was, it looks like it damaged your magic and this pulse and release was the best way it could come up to compensate. That or you received some specialized training and learned to do this on a subconscious level at some point."

"Make sense to you?"

"Yeah, I guess. I never could've guessed I was doing this."

"It's a lot to take in, I know. All of this was dumped on me at the age of eleven with no context at all and just thrown at me."

Karasuba had just continued to gaze at herself for a few moments. She gave a casual wave here and there that allowed her to see the fluctuations in her magic that her direct actions caused. Suddenly, she grasped the hilt or her sheathed sword at one point, and both of them could see her power channeled through it, pure energy prepared to be released at a moment's notice Then suddenly, the surge vanished, and the normal periodic pulse of magic was the only action her magic took.

Finally, Harry figured it was time to wrap things up. "OK, last thing, close your eyes, and turn and face towards me." She did so, and patiently waited for instruction.

"Now, I want you to slowly… very slowly open your eyes and look at me. Look away if it gets too bright."

Karasuba had barely opened her eyes when she flinched violently away.

"Ugh, it's like staring right into the sun after coming out of a dark room." She was furiously rubbing her eyes while trying to sooth them.

"Yeah that's why I wanted you to look at me last, because you won't be able to look at any other magic for about a minute or so now. If you close your eyes, I'll remove the spell from you."

She did as asked, nodded, and Harry removed it.

When she had opened her eyes, Harry asked, "Starting to believe now?"

She nodded as she opened her eyes, blinking and rubbing them. "Least it doesn't leave bright spots in your eyes after you remove the spell. It's a very neat trick." was all she eventually said.

Harry walked up to the edge of the building, and leaned against the lip and looked down. She joined him after a few seconds, where she stood much closer then she had earlier.

Harry looked at her, "So I'm not sure how much formal magic training you've had, but you were the first person I've seen so far in this country with any hint of an organized aura, so I thought I'd take a chance and ask."

She nodded and simply stood there for a minute and said nothing. Finally she stated, "Sorry to disappoint, but I've had no formal training in magic. My story isn't quite as straightforward as yours. And that's with yours easily passing as the craziest series of events I've ever heard."

Harry sighed, "It was worth a shot. I guess there are no real schools of magic here in Japan. It was always a chance that I wouldn't find anything here. I mean, the ICW has nothing on what goes on here, but I couldn't really count on that being the end-all be-all on the situation."

She remained silent a few more minutes. An occasional glace was made at Harry before she turned and looked at Harry again quite strangely.

"Is this something I could be trained in?" asked Karasuba.

"I don't see why not. It's a large time commitment. I mean I did technically go to school for six years, fight in a war for a year, and then I've done on and off education and self-study for the last eight years," he said.

Karasuba looked a bit disappointed, but nodded her understanding and looked back at the street.

"But if that's something you really want, I'm sure we could make arrangements," Harry said at last. The fact she was obviously a killer made no real difference to him. She had acted respectful the entire time they had conversed. Only actions against him had been direct results of her paranoia, something he could hardly blame her for, especially considering how paranoid he was these days.

She turned her head back to him at this statement. She had most certainly not expected this statement from him by the look on her face.

Suddenly Harry felt what he could only describe as a very strong compulsion, almost like a Veela-like Allure. It emanated from her and tried to grab a hold of his mind. Harry shook his head, closing his eyes, while he involuntarily took a step backward and clamped down on his Occlumency shields. Finally he managed to blurt out, "What the heck was that?"

She looked at Harry strangely and half wondered if he had turned slightly deranged, and asked "What was what?"

Harry cocked my head and seemed to gain a better hold of himself. The allure was still present, but it had already begun to fade from its original intensity. He looked right into her eyes and said, "Veela are a magical race of women, with avian origins. One of their traits is to push out a lust based compulsion charm to addle the brains of men. It was almost like you just pushed out a Veela Allure. It felt like a massive compulsion charm trying to get me to walk up, grab you, and kiss you."

She blinked rapidly, and he could see her attempt to digest this statement before her eyes widened almost comically and she took a step back as well. "That shouldn't be possible," was her only response, barely audible as she whispered it to herself while she looked down at her hands and then shook her head.

After he had waited a few moments for her to elaborate, but received nothing but silence in response, Harry had to follow form and ask the stupid question of, "What shouldn't be possible?"

She looked up and straight into his eyes again, the sudden spoke of increased Allure dramatically. The mental attack caused Harry to lift his hand to his head in an effort to ward off whatever it was she was doing. The effect became so strong Harry audibly groaned under the mental onslaught.

Finally, after Harry took another step back and leaned against the wall for support, she turned away and walked a few steps. The pressure eventually reduced down to a manageable level, and she said over her shoulder, "I guess I'll need to tell you my story then, if you can hold that off for a while."

She looked completely out of sorts now. The tall, commanding, and half-crazed killer initially seen on the street seemed strangely shrunken. She steadied herself and asked, "Care to come with me back to my apartment and listen?"

Harry may have been slightly addled with the full-frontal blast of lusty compulsion that had just been leveled at him, but he wasn't outwitted enough that he couldn't respond, "But I was always told never to go home with strange women."

An eye roll was her response to the bad pun, but it caused the aura to drop significantly while said, "Cool it or I'll reintroduce you to my sword." A cheeky grin was all Harry could manage before he walked over to her again. The Allure had definitely settled and she seemed to be somewhat back to normal.

"How are we getting there?"

"That's simple, for me at least. I'm jumping there. I can either drag you along like a sack of potatoes or you can use your handy dandy teleport thing with the side-effect of vomiting and anal leakage and follow me there."

"I can only apparate somewhere I've been or seen before. Part of how it works."

She looked at him again, and pointed northwest. "I'm headed that way, try and keep up, Mr. Wizard."

"Yes ma'am," Harry shouted at her rapidly retreating form.

Harry found it incredibly difficult to line-of-site apparate and keep up with her. She was damned fast and hard to spot as took advantage of cover whenever possible on the rooftops she traversed. She was obviously very good at her profession, whether it be just straight out killing or assassination. Her occupation would've bothered a seventeen year old Harry Potter straight out of Hogwarts, but that was before he was betrayed by practically everyone he knew, and learned that people who lived in the real-world did not exist in black and white.

There were shades of grey everywhere. Those who moonlighted in lightest of grey could easily stab you in the back and, at the same time, even those bordering on pure black were worth getting to know on some occasions. Karasuba seemed to be one such individual. As long as her employer didn't point her in Harry's direction she would be no threat to him.

-o0o0o-

Eventually, they stood together on the street in front of a rather large skyscraper. MBI Headquarters, the corporate sign announced proudly in gaudy gold lettering.

Harry had heard of them previously. They were a large pharmaceutical, biotech, and military supplier, based in Japan that had a worldwide presence in almost every industry of note.

'_This must be their corporate headquarters, and Karasuba had an apartment here? Looks like MBI has some shady skeletons in its closet,_' Harry mused to himself, '_and I happened upon the one who makes the bodies._'

"Interesting place to live. I don't think I've ever had the luxury of being granted a corporate apartment during my travels," Harry said conversationally as they walked through well-manicured courtyard that led to the building entrance.

She merely chuckled at the statement before the mask of menace that had clouded her face was allowed to slip back on now that she was on her employer's property. "It's definitely luxury, but I'm not sure I've ever considered it home. I can already tell you've a good idea what it is I do, so try and not wander off or appear too conspicuous. It would be best if you're not on their radar quite yet. I think you will be there whether you want to or not very shortly. For now I would like to avoid dealing with the consequences of that occurring."

At that very enigmatic statement, they proceeded forward into the lobby of the building.

"I'm putting a notice-me-not up on myself, I'll be right behind you, but you won't really be able to look at me directly and see me. Your eyes will kind of slide right past me if you try and stare at where my voice is coming from," Harry told her. He also disillusioned himself as well, since he figured there was no need to take chances.

They reached an elevator whereupon Karasuba produced a plastic key card from her waste and keyed herself into a specific floor. Harry could feel her allure rising again as the elevator climbed. '_It seems like someone is having fantasies involving elevators_,' he internally chuckled. He was actually impressed that it was occurring while she stood there looking like one the most imposing individuals he had seen in his life.

Eventually, the elevator stopped and Karasuba walked out. He was surprised at the authoritative manner in which she stalked down the empty corridor. Harry could only assume there were security cameras here so she had to maintain appearances. They walked a good distance before they arrived at a door that appeared to be in a corner of the building. The door automatically opened as Karasuba stepped on the threshold of her residence.

It was a beautiful apartment, but definitely reflected the fact Karasuba had declared she really didn't consider it home. It had a few mementos and possessions, some artwork, and nice high-end furniture.

But it looked too clean, unlived in.

He was reminded painfully of Tonks making the comment about his Aunt's kitchen many years previous, and thought the analogy appropriate. This location was merely a place she would go to in order to sleep. The location itself held no value or meaning to her.

Harry dropped the spells on himself and walked over to the windows that overlooked the city. It was a gorgeous view, with two whole walls of the bedroom being fully comprised of floor to ceiling windows. The ocean in the distance and chaotic nature of a metropolitan city was displayed in all its glory. Harry looked at her as she approached his side and stood by him just out of arms reach.

"I love the view, this would be excellent to sit and relax in. Though I can see what you mean by 'it's your apartment, but not your home.' You don't seem to have personalized it very much," he said casually.

She nodded at the observation, "I meditate, eat, and sleep here, not much else. There's never been much of a need to make it more than that."

"So where is 'home' then?"

She looked at him, for a long moment. Harry could tell she normally was very close-lipped about her past, and she now waged some internal battle over whether to speak or not.

"I don't normally talk about…"

A sudden thought had occurred to Harry. He raised his hand up to stop Karasuba mid-sentence and looked around the room suspiciously. This conversation might lead somewhere dangerous and prying ears could be very interested in what was said. He had over the years become slightly more paranoid then Mad-Eye Moody, and right now was no exception.

The suspicious wizard motioned her over to a table in the center of the room and asked her to sit down. He palmed his wand and conjured a piece of paper and put an obscuring glamour on it, keyed to Karasuba. He then touched his wand to his head, and then the paper, which made writing appear on previously blank sheet. Picking the paper up and confirming the charms were present he intended, he passed the paper to Karasuba.

He could see her gasp as she read the note:

'_I assume that whatever it is you don't normally talk about, may involve your current employer to some level. I remind you that they are one of the leading technology firms in the world, and it is highly likely that your room is bugged from here to Sunday. I would suggest not saying anything out loud which goes contrary to your employers vision for your future without letting me put up some privacy wards._'

She looked at him quickly, and nodded her assent to put the wards up again. Harry rapid fire burst out spells, adding even a few more this time.

When finished, Harry looked at her and said, "I added a few more this time. If anyone is listening or watching us, all they will see is you discussing the finer arts of a particularly obscure fighting style and it's forms. The spell is tied to you and your knowledge of fighting, so it should be pretty accurate. There's also a spell in there to make sure whatever is discussed is done so in the most mind-numbingly boring manner possible, so whoever is unfortunate to be listening in should be asleep or not paying attention after about five minutes."

She shook her head in disbelief as the abilities Harry possessed began to sink in.

Karasuba definitely was starting to get overwhelmed, and it did not look like this was a position she found herself in often. She seemed to be upset with herself that she forgot she couldn't let go of her public mask even in her own apartment due to it being in her employer's headquarters.

She looked even more exhausted now than before.

It was more and more obvious the haughty and carefree manner she carried herself with was a front, and so was the hardened visage of a killer. Behind both was a broken woman who never let her guard down for fear others might take advantage of her, despite her abilities making that chance almost negligible.

A few deep breathes later with her eyes closed steadied her, and she looked up at Harry and spoke, "Like I was going to say, I've never really talked about any of this, and I still don't know why I'm about to tell you."

Looking down Harry could almost see embarrassment in her face. "Well, actually, I think I do know why, but I'll get back to that later, because that will lead to a whole different set of problems."

With another deep breath, she looked Harry square in the eye and said, "I'm a Sekirei. What that means is we are literally extraterrestrials from another planet. Our ship crash landed here god knows how long ago and ended up in the ocean off the coast of Japan."

She sighed, and instantly looked older then she had previously appeared, "Twenty years ago, Minaka and his assistant found the ship on an island that had suddenly risen from the sea due to volcanic activity."

Her voice took on a cold monotonous tone now as she recounted, "There were one hundred and eight of us aboard that ship, and he woke the five most powerful of us up first. Numbers 1 through 5: Miya, Matsu, Kazehana, myself, and Mutsu."

"The ship has controls, to allow for subtle ways to help "adjust" our personalities and abilities. This was for us to adapt to whatever new world we found ourselves in when we were to be taken out of hibernation. Unfortunately, the only controls Minaka was concerned with were whatever would remove all inhibitions from the five of us and turn us into his own personal assassination squad."

"He called us the Discipline Squad and we were to be his enforcers. What we really were was a pack of rabid fanatical killers who could only marginally be considered sane."

"Soon, other countries found out about the ship, and they were all calling dibs on who would take control of what they assumed was massive upgrades for them in weapons and propulsion technology. As they approached, Minaka simply pointed us at them, and they fell by our hands."

"Tens of thousands of dead soldiers in seconds, it was a game to us, it wasn't real. Lowly humans thinking they could attack us, the Discipline Squad. We slaughtered them without warning, without mercy."

She finally shook her head and looked down, "They never even saw us coming."

She continued after a few moments silence, "That first squad didn't last long though, five people like us were never meant to be in close proximity to each other. Miya ended up falling in love for the chief scientist in charge of 'adjusting' us. I fell for him too, and in the end, Miya tried finding a way to make him love her exclusively, and it ended up killing him. She left after that, and she blames and hates me for the whole fiasco," she paused, and continued, "and I hate her for taking away the first person who had ever treated me like anything other than a 'thing'."

"With that, the group fell apart and we all went our separate ways. Miya hides now under the guise of some well-mannered house-wife up in the north part of the city, pretending to be civil when she's the most ruthless of all of us. Matsu is on the run, likely hiding with the help of Miya, because she stole some important piece of technology from that helps control the colony ship, and MBI bigwigs have had a kill on sight order out on her ever since. She would need to be watched because she's a bit… off and would need someone like Miya nearby to keep her in line."

"Kazehana actually fell in love with the CEO of MBI, the scientist who originally found the ship. He flat out rejected her when he found out. She crawled into a bottle cause of it and hasn't come out since."

"Mutsu, Number Five, was the only truly sane one of the bunch of us. If you can call someone sane who has no real emotions at all. And that ended up being the problem. The only thing he ever truly enjoyed were mind games, not violence. He loved finding ways to sabotage things, and by his very nature us. He doesn't even refer to us by our names or numbers on the rare chance we encounter each other, just 'hannya', 'the pervert', 'the drunk', and…"

Harry knew that Mutsu had a name for Karasuba that she was reluctant to tell him. He reached across the table and lightly placed his hand over hers.

Harry spoke kindly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Like I said earlier, I glossed over a lot of the insanity in my life. You don't need to say everything right now to me."

She half-smiled at Harry, but it was a smile of sadness and regret. She looked down at the table, "Mutsu calls me 'the psychopath.' It's a name I've certainly earned."

She had had her eyes closed and she had tensed, just waiting for Harry to get up and leave the room in fear.

"Well, is that all? Shall I start naming all the names I've been called over the years?" Harry tried saying this with a smile, and a slight squeeze of her hand.

"The Boy Who Lived", "The Chosen One", "Undesirable Number One", "The Heir of Slytherin", "The Man Who Conquered", "Saint Potter", "Potty", "Pothead", "Scarhead", "Patronus Potter", "Delusional and Disturbed", "He-Who-Gets-His-Friend's-Killed", and my personal favorite, "The Boy Who Lies."

Harry snorted at the end at the ridiculousness of some of the things he had been called over the years. They seemed so childish now, and completely unrelated to the person he was now.

He gave Karasuba's hand one more squeeze and continued, "Names and descriptions have influence over you only when you give them power. I've found that the labels people impose upon others often fail to describe that person very well at _one_ point in their life, let alone the _entirety_ of their life. Are you the same exact same person you were then, at the moment in time when he labeled you with that word?

"Yes, and no," she looked away and stayed silent for a bit.

With a very noticeable attempt to change the subject, she continued "Anyways, the Discipline squad broke up, and everyone scattered to the winds, except for me. I had nowhere to go, so I stayed and was placed in the second incarnation of the Discipline squad, under the command of one of the other newly fully awakened Sekirei; Number Eight, Yume.

"Yume was…" she paused and searched for words to describe the woman, before she gave up with a shrug and a shake of her head, "different than any other Sekirei I had met at the point. She believed fully and completely in love, and thought that was our goal as Sekirei, to find love and be with and protect our Ashikabis."

"Yume ended up giving her own life to save another Sekirei who had been kidnapped by a rival country's military. I never understood Yume. I resented her, I resented her beliefs, and I resented the child she saved for so long. Yume was my biggest rival in my life besides Miya. Miya was never subtle in displaying her powers. It was easy to see her as a rival. Yuma never revealed anything until it was needed, always allowing others to underestimate her."

"I never understood what she meant about love and its effects, and I never was able to beat her in a sparring match. I was angry when she gave up living to save that child, and for a long time, I've held a lot of resentment against her and that little girl who's now a full grown Sekirei."

"Finally, a third Discipline squad was formed with me as its leader. They gave me two overpowered newbies as grunts, and it's been my job to keep the damage they make under control while trying to somehow enforce the rules MBI imposes on the other Sekirei. And finally, MBI felt I would be more conducive to abiding the company's wishes if I was bonded to an Ashikabi, so I and the two girls were forcibly bonded to an assistant to the CEO of the company."

"Wait, what? Forcibly bonded?" Harry said in confusion.

This reminded him too much of that crap the Weasleys tried to foist upon him years previous when they stated that Harry and Slutty were magically bonded because of the contract. They spouted that nonsense constantly, even after Gringotts got involved and very publicly swatted them down like flies. True bonds, after all, were voluntary and only activated through intent, because bonds usually imposed a price for all their benefits. If one person died, the other person went with them.

"Yeah, of all people they picked a gay guy who works here. They took some spit from the guy and had it placed upon some chopsticks I used. I never saw it coming."

"That's how we Sekirei bond to an Ashikabi, usually through a kiss and the small amount of saliva exchanged. It didn't bother me all that much at the time, I never thought I would find the supposed mate for myself that all Sekirei are told they'd find like some kind of fairy tale. After losing the man I was falling in love with to Miya, I lost all hope I would find another."

"Our powers are limited normally until we find our Ashikabi's. I'm lucky to be stronger than the rest because I was a low-number. I was stronger un-winged then almost all other Sekirei are after they've been winged. But there's no love in our bonding, and so I don't believe I ever really gained anything from it. In fact, all I ever really gained is a weakness, since if he dies, I'm supposed to go with him, despite how weak are shared bond is."

"The two girls on the squad were forcibly winged too. Benitsubasa is rather upset by the whole thing and it's really affected her moods. She's managed to somehow convince herself she loves the guy, but he won't touch her."

"Haihane is just glad she's bonded at all. I sometimes think she thought she would never be bonded. She doesn't have a lot of self-confidence. Her choice of weapons hasn't been easy on her. She's good with the things, but she always ends up cutting herself with them accidentally when not fighting. The cuts get infected and then she gets scars everywhere cause of them. She's pretty fair skinned too so she never goes outside. Some of the other Sekirei gave her the nickname 'The Grim Reaper.' Basically, they've lead to her not having a high opinion of herself."

"So, the three of us are the newest squad, and all the other Sekirei pretty much live in fear of us. Our standing orders are to enforce the supposed rules of the Sekirei Plan, and to terminate any Sekirei that leave Tokyo, or we get terminated ourselves. It's rough at times. The latest group of un-winged Sekirei went out yesterday, so I've been on patrol for almost a day straight dealing with the madness. I had to take down one probably twenty minutes before we met. I was still trying to deal with that when I saw you walk into that tea shop."

"And that's my story, I left a bunch out, like you, but that's the general gist of it."

All Harry could think of was one statement which repeated over and over in his mind, which he eventually said out loud. "You weren't given any choice about your destiny either. You were turned into a weapon, just like me."

Harry slumped back in his chair, almost as if in defeat. Here was a kindred soul, one who raised and forged in hell just like he was. She however had never been given the chance of escape that Harry was able to grasp onto when he left England, so she had everything she had valued taken away from her.

"You haven't discussed one thing though," Harry finally said into the silence, "…and I get the feeling it's quite important."

Harry could see her stiffen at this, and realized that if there was something that she still felt needed to be hidden after even after she had admitted to her role in the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers.

Harry phrased his questions carefully, and spoke as softly and delicately as possible, "What was the impossible thing you mentioned on the roof earlier and why do you suddenly think you have a better understanding of Yume then you did before?"

"Yume always said that finding her Ashikabi would change her and re-prioritize her life. That it would be the single greatest and scariest moment of her life. Up there on that rooftop, it hit me that you should have been my Ashikabi."

Harry was shocked speechless. He couldn't think of anything even remotely appropriate to say to that, so he chose to remain silent.

"I could feel it. It was like your soul was singing to me. It was as if everything I knew or thought of the world was as different as night and day. I could remember… I could remember being a thoughtless killer, reveling in the blood I was spilling because there was no other reason to live for. Now, I can look back on it all view it differently. I can see my mistakes, and I can see where I would've acted differently had I never given in to the despair of never finding my Ashikabi."

"But it doesn't matter, there's no chance of it ever happening anyways since I'm already imprinted onto Natsuo." She stopped for a moment, shook her head, with a harsh chuckle continued, "And I already know you got out of one forced 'marriage' in your life and did so by running to the other side of the planet to get away from the greedy bastards."

"I think it would kill me to see you forced to do the same here. I don't think I've ever apologized to anyone in my life, but I'm sorry I just laid this all on you, especially when there's no possible thing for either of us to do about it."

Harry was stunned by this, but realized he had not yet cringed internally like he would have if someone like Ginny Weasley just thrown the same life-changing curve-ball at him. All he could really think to himself was that here was a woman who would never reach her potential, and never be with the person who her magic had told her she needed to be with. All of it because some poof had already claimed that vulnerable bond against her will.

It was a rather helpless feeling he now felt course through his body. Normally his "Saving People Thing" complex would have roared already and been in full-effect, and he would've likely winged Karasuba if it meant her happiness on some biological level. But it wasn't even an option in this case.

So Harry did the only thing he could think of.

He got up and walked over to Karasuba, leaned down without hesitation and embraced her. She didn't immediately react, but slowly she raised her arms and wrapped them around his back, slowly squeezing harder and harder. Harry finally whispered in her ear, "I wish I'd come to Japan years ago if it could've prevented this for you. I wish you knew a way for me to help you."

Slowly, he felt her silent sobs began.

Her body twitched with a complete absence of sound as she tried to hold in an emotional outburst he could tell would have never been tolerated before they had met that afternoon.

"Shhh, let it out Kara. It's always just a bit better after you let it out. I'm not going anywhere."

And with that the floodgates opened. The sobs intensified as she audibly began to cry and purge herself of years of pain. She continued for at least fifteen minutes like that, the only sound in the room being her sobs and the sound of Harry's hand on her back as he slowly rubbed circles on the coarse fabric of her uniform.

Eventually she calmed down enough that she let go of Harry. As she released, he reached down and kissed her forehead, then leaned in close and wiped the tears from her eyes softly with his thumbs, and whispered, "There's always hope, we just have to look long enough for it to appear."

She nodded, and gave a small half-smile, though it definitely did not reach her eyes. She did however reach up and squeeze both of his hands that were holding her cheeks with her hands, closing her eyes as if trying to hold on to this memory for a bit longer. Eventually she let go and allowed Harry to pull back and look at her.

The emotional release had definitely been necessary, but Karasuba would need to go back to her duties soon, and if Harry could return her to her proud state, he would help her do so. '_Let's see if she has a sense of humor that can shine through_,' he thought to himself.

He tilted his head and looked at her with a rueful smile, "You're still quite pretty even when you look like crap, you know?"

She snorted and sent him a glare that would make most sane people piss themselves. He quickly conjured a small hand-held mirror for her before she could react and handed it to her.

"Here, let's fix you up, shall we? Make sure you watch."

With one wave of his wand, the tear tracks were gone on her face, and another wave vanished her ruined and runny mascara and eyeliner as well. He didn't stop there, and proceeded to then restore her eyeliner to its previous state, refreshed the light mascara on her cheeks, and then placed a lightly colored gloss on her lips.

With a final wave of his wand, her disheveled hair returned back to somewhat resemble what it had looked like earlier in the day before she had begun to vault from rooftop to rooftop.

"Wow," was the highly intelligent reply she blurted out as Karasuba's mind finally caught up to what he had done.

"Stand up a second," he said while smirking down at her. She stood, and Harry promptly waved his arm again, the wrinkles in her clothes disappearing. Finally, with a last wave a freshening charm hit her, making her feel like she had just taken a hot bath and was wearing clean clothes

"Feel better?" he asked with that lop-sided grin that had so infuriated her earlier in the day when they had first met, but now warmed her insides visibly

"Yeah definitely, you're hired. When can you move in?" she said with a laugh, and the confident woman from earlier was present and accounted for once again.

Harry thought that last comment was worth one last compliment, "I'll say it again. You are absolutely beautiful."

A smile was his reward. '_I could get used to hanging out with her_,' he thought.

Her wit seemed to have returned as well, "Dare I ask where you learned how to apply a woman's make-up with such skill?"

She was rewarded for her observation when Harry's cheeks turned a bright-red. "Wizards have a potion you can take, called Polyjuice. It allows you to turn into anyone whom you can grab a hair from for one hour. I learned all that in a stealth and infiltration course where I had to turn myself into a woman and learn to apply make-up believably."

She merely stared before bursting out in laughter. Harry could only shake his head and absently run his hand through his hair. He just had to ride out his embarrassment while he tried to keep the redness from his cheeks.

"So what now?" was the only logical question Harry could ask to steer the conversation elsewhere.

She looked shrewdly at him, "Well, how abo…"

But whatever she was about to suggest was never finished, as a loud knock on the door suddenly interrupted her.

"Hey boss, let's go, it's time for training," a very loud and obnoxious voice could clearly be heard through the thick door of the apartment.

Karasuba looked at Harry, with a positively feral look on her face, "Care for some fun, darling?"

'_Oh, she's definitely going to be fun to be around_,' thought Harry.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle and grin at the thought of wrecking havoc on one of her overconfident Sekirei minions and said, "Sure, I haven't pranked anyone nice and good today. Let's do it."


	3. The Discipline Squad

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Original Chapter Publish Date: 2012-02-28

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-28

**Chapter 3 – The Discipline Squad**

The sound of knocking and yelling outside the door had somehow managed to increase in volume a moment later.

"Karasuba, what's going on, we've got training to gone done. We're going to be late."

While she stared at the door, Karasuba said in a voice clearly meant for Harry, "Ok, quick rundown."

Karasuba looked over at Harry and said, "That's Benitsubasa. She prefers fighting hand to hand and has an affinity for earth based attacks." Then a mischievous glint could be seen in Karasuba's eye when she said, "She also hates how small her chest is and thinks her ass is too big."

Harry gave a back of laughter while he dispelled the wards around the table where they had sat, "I don't know if I'll sink low enough to use that but I'll leave it on the table as an option. Want me to stay right here?" Harry asked as he gestured at the table they had sat during their heart to heart conversation.

"Yeah, just play along," her face immediately dropped into the mask of menace that dominated their talk in the tea shop this morning as she walked to the door and quickly yanked it open.

Two women stood in the now revealed hallway. The first that Harry saw had white'ish-silver hair similar to Karasuba's, only without the imposing presence and not nearly as tall. She had overlarge metal claw prosthetics on her hands, and her body was wrapped in medical gauze underneath a tattered and well worn kimono.

'_This must be Haihane,_' he thought as he somehow mentally compared her to his memories of Tonks. She must be an amazing fighter to be capable of using those things in battle, but must lose her common sense outside of the fight and become clumsy as hell, hence why she's completely wrapped in bandages.

The other woman was obviously the woman who had screamed like a banshee earlier. Harry internally snorted to himself, '_Girl was more like it_.' She had obvious anger control issues, and had no sense of internal monologue. She was youthful in appearance, and had a toned body with reddish pink hair. And, Harry laughed internally, like Karasuba had said, she had a flat chest and a lot of junk in her trunk.

"Why are you shouting outside my door as if you think I care about what you think, Benitsubasa?"

It was immediately apparent who ran the discipline squad.

The sentence was uttered with such loathing and malice that Snivelous himself would've smiled a vomit inducing grin had he heard it. Karasuba was definitely an artist when it came to intimidation without resorting to actually doing all that much. Either you had it or you didn't, and she had it in spades.

Benitsubasa shrunk in on herself like a kicked puppy. Haihane, unfortunately seemed quick to demonstrate the low-self confidence Karasuba had mentioned earlier. She seemed to slump just a bit more after the verbal scolding while she looked down at her feet.

Watching Benitsubasa being rebuked didn't bother Harry especially, but Haihane's posture seemed to strike a chord, and that's when Harry firmly recognized what was so familiar about her.

She reminded Harry of Luna of all people.

Harry could see bright eyes that still had a bit of innocence in them, which was honestly surprised Harry considering what he knew about this group's typical tasks and duties. But she obviously thought very little of herself, and Harry could just see Benitsubasa being the bully of the group, constantly bringing light to any of Haihane's shortcomings.

Harry decided to stop his internal musings and analysis. It was time for some fun

"So who's the little girl with the loud-mouth at the door, Kara?" Harry shouted bringing the newcomers attention to him.

Weasley red was an accurate description of the color Benitsubasa's face had slowly morphed into. She was still a few notches below his target of the vein-throbbing fury that Vernon could hit so easily.

Haihane on the other hand merely looked curious at the newcomer who so casually insulted a member of the squad in front of Karasuba.

While Karasuba had just deftly demonstrated hers, Harry had many ways of intimidation unique to himself. Some involved a simple flash of his aura, visibly for non-magicals, and invisibly for magicals. Others involved an almost inverse form of Legilimency, where he passively stared into someone's eyes and brought up random traumatic events he had experienced that would subconsciously flit the emotions across the victims mind.

Right now, he was projecting a Dementor's aura deep into the red-headed bully's mind.

"What, have you got no name little girl? We were collaborating on a siege and demolition strategy for an upcoming op. I hope you have a good reason for barging in here and imposing your presence upon us," Harry sneered with his best imitation of Malfoy arrogance, making up the bullshit story on the spot.

The girl took a step back in obvious horror, though her internal confusion showed through as well as she had no idea just why she just moved. The entire effect was ruined when Karasuba began to cackle with mad laughter at the whole situation. "Oh, you have to teach me that. That was beautiful. Miya and her scare tactics have nothing on whatever the heck that was."

Harry released the subtle connection with Benitsubasa at that point and gave a slight smirk at her confusion that had slowly turned into rage directed at him. Harry ignored the over-confident idiot and turned to the other woman, who to this point had remained completely silent while she observed everything that had transpired.

"You must be Haihane, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Harry"

"Hello," was her only response. With that, Harry pondered his previous assessment of Haihane again, '_Well, we definitely need to give some confidence to her. Maybe I was wrong to think of her like Tonks and Luna, this may be more of a true Neville situation_. _Or maybe they're all the same in the end._'

After he gave a quick internal vow to never psychoanalyze his friends again, Harry turned back to Benitsubasa, "A pleasure to meet you as well. What did Kara say your name was? Nubs, I think?"

Karasuba had now turned around and cover her mouth in an effort to not laugh out loud at the look of absolute fury that had crossed the Sekirei's face that was now directed at Harry.

'_Success_,' mused Harry. '_We have achieved full Vernon vein-throbbing rage_.'

"Who is this human, boss?" was what Benitsubasa finally managed to grind out between clenched teeth.

"Oh, this is my new friend," Karasuba said as she looked Harry over with a salacious leer. "He's going to help me with some specialized training that I doubt you'll be able to handle. I honestly hadn't considered including you on it."

"Oh, I can handle it," Benitsubasa said without hesitation. "There's no human that can possibly do anything I can't do," she said. She turned to Harry and stared into his eyes and promising him nothing but death if he accepted her challenge.

"Really, you're interested too? I'll see you in the training room, sweetie," Harry replied with a over-the-top false cheeriness. The urge to walk over suddenly and give the obnoxious girl a pat on the head occurred to Harry, but he wisely decided that Karasuba wouldn't appreciate a full-blown brawl in her apartment if Benitsubasa reacted like he expected her to his taunts.

Harry didn't quite know it was possible, but Benitsubasa's ire just rose and rose, before it was suppressed as she smirked evilly, turned, and left quickly.

Haihana seemed to be confused as to where to go, until Harry spoke up, "Haihane, walk with us."

The group of three slowly began walking to the training room. "So what do you want me to serve on the menu for her, Kara?" Harry eventually asked as they walked, as his lip curled upwards and his eyes danced with mirth.

"Do you want pain, torture, humiliation, or an instructional beat down?"

Haihane's eyes widened as she heard this and turned to her squad leader, and her eyes suddenly grew more as she realized Karasuba had already begun to devote serious thought form of torment to ask Harry to unleash upon Benitsubasa. This lead also to the natural revelation to Haihane that Karasuba thought this human was capable of following through with his words and her instructions.

The effect as Haihane looked back and forth between the two in utter shock was quite comical to Harry.

"Annoyance… and then total humiliation," Karasuba finally said thoughtfully.

"Understood, though my friends and I would typically refer to that combination as 'prolonged minor humiliation with a large money-shot'," spoke the now jovial green-eyed man.

"Any more talk about money-shots and I won't have any reservations about introducing you to my sword," replied Karasuba with a leer.

"You're both actually serious about this," Haihane finally burst out, trying to come to grips with something that made no sense to her at all. "You're not a male Sekirei, so what's going on?"

Harry smiled kindly at her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and leaned in and said, "Just enjoy the show. You, Kara, and I will talk afterwards. I've already thought of a few things I would like to do for both of you."

With that last enigmatic statement, the group was silent all the way to the training room.

-o0o0o-

The group entered the highly advanced training room and saw Benitsubasa glare at them as they entered while she stretched the far corner.

"I can't help but feel she's taken this personally somehow?" Harry says with a falsely loud whisper to Karasuba and merrily veered off to stretch in the dead center middle of the room.

Harry began to mentally prepare himself for this fight. He focused upon a mental break-down of the likely method of attack's he would see. Karasuba had said she was a hand to hand fighter that utilized earth based attacks.

'So, avoid close quarters and more than likely expect random medium range ground-based wave attacks,' Harry summarized the tactical situation to himself. Apparition would be the easiest annoyance setup, along with stinging hexes to her ass. And since she has such a complex about that part of her anatomy, I wonder how we can use the other half of it against her…'

He already knew his finisher, it was something Bill Weasley had performed on him multiple times years ago during training duels, and Harry had only succeeded in returning the favor once before Bill joined his traitorous family in their pursuit Harry's fortune.

This was going to be so much fun.

"Are you going to fight me hand-to-hand, human?" Benitsubasa said mockingly after she noticed that Harry carried no obvious weapons.

Feeling that somehow, Benitsubasa still wasn't quite angry enough, Harry did his best attempt to channel Gilderoy Lockhart and responded with, "Nubs, Nubs, Nubs… Of course not, that would be stupid."

The whole thing was said with a winning smile that was a borderline caricature of Lockhart with the number of teeth shown. Harry even used a subtle charm to make the corner of one of his front teeth twinkle at her. If one could feel amusement in the air, Harry would have been able to feel as it pulsed in his direction from both Karasuba and Haihane. That is, if those same sensors wouldn't have been overwhelmed by the molten lava of anger that erupted from the volcano he was about to fight.

Karasuba finally spoke up, "Ok, you two, here's the rules. It's quite simple, no killing, no dismemberment, no maiming on purpose. Go till one of you is unconscious or unable to continue."

"Begin on my mark, three, two… one…. MARK!."

Harry immediately disaparated silently and disillusioned himself behind Benitsubasa. She had managed to run halfway to where harry was before she swiveled around and screamed, "Where did you go, cheater?"

Harry threw his voice behind the girl and watched appreciatively as she made a quick turn to search for him as she listened to his taunts, "Come on Nubs, there's no such thing as cheating in a fight in the real world."

And with that, Harry launched a wandless and silent stinging hex at the girl's ass. The loud childlike squeak of pain almost had Harry fall over in laughter, but he very wisely disaparated before a ranged shockwave blew through where he had just been standing. Another stinging hex was followed by another which infuriated the red-headed fighter even further.

"You know," said Harry casually after a few more minutes of randomly thrown stinging hexes and taunts. Benitsubasa was completely off-balance now. Each time he threw his voice she would respond with a shockwave launched in directions nowhere near Harry actually was. "I think I figured it out. I know why you can't beat me. It's your sense of balance. Your ass is so big, and your front is so damn flat. Here, let me help."

He apparated directly in front of her and cast engorgio's with both hands before he popped away again. The girl's near flat as a board chest was now large enough to make a porn star jealous. She stared down in shock at what she was seeing, partly due to the added weight, and partly due to the fact there was no way her current outfit was designed with her current chest in mind as the shirt tore and left her completely exposed.

"You bastard," she screamed in rage and pounded the floor with both fists, all semblance of control completely lost now.

The pulse of the shockwave extended outwards in all directions from her, and would have flung Harry back into a wall had he not simply apparated to Karasuba's apartment and then popped straight back into the room again. He removed the disillusionment upon himself and stood there behind the girl, as she seethed.

In a cold voice, Harry growled, "Are you ready to begin Nubs," while he threw a temporary silencing ward at Haihanne and Karasuba. Benitsubasa turned and threw another shockwave at Harry, but he'd already apparated again, but this time it was different.

Powerful wizards could apparate very close to what would be considered absolute silence as they grew older and more settled into their magic. However, they also had the capability to completely overpower the teleport, making a 'CRACK!' so loud it could burst nearby eardrums on occasion.

Which is exactly what Harry tried to do.

The floor shook, just like one of Benitsubasa's Earthquake attacks. It wasn't enough to knock her down, but combined with her now off-kilter center of gravity, it definitely distracted her. Harry appeared directly in front of her, petrified her, and threw out a bank of fog that began to swirl in the room around them

When the fog cleared ten seconds later, Karasuba and Haihane couldn't believe the sight in front of them.

Benitsubara was in a bright orange clown suit, with pale white makeup covering her whole body wherever it was exposed. She had large red shoes, with a button red nose, topped with a frizzy wild rat's nest of electric purple hair. The final and most flashy part of the loud-mouths new charmed appearance was the neon sign that flashed above her head in letters that pulsed the phrase, "Why So Serious?" in multi-colored fiery letters.

"Do you yield?" Harry asked casually to the girl, who of course couldn't move other than through her eyes, which shot lasers at Harry.

Harry snapped his fingers, "Oh silly me, I forgot, you can't move can you? Here you go," Harry haphazardly waved a hand at the fem-clown's mouth, and asked again, "Do you yield?"

"I'll never yield to a damned monkey, do you hear me?" she raged in a high-pitched helium-filled voice that leaving Harry to wonder if he had ever been less intimidated in his life by a threat from an opponent

Having failed to come up with a less scary villain that he had faced in combat in his life, Harry cocked his head and smiled, "Perhaps I should put things in perspective for you," and with that, Harry conjured a full length mirror and finally allowed the unfortunate fighter to see just what had put her fellow members of the Discipline Squad on the floor as they laughed like hyena's.

The blood-curdling high-pitched scream that met their ears made all three other people in the room flinch as it registered to Benitsubasa who exactly she had just looked at.

"Enough," Harry finally said and stunned the girl. He absent-mindedly released the body bind so she fell rather ungracefully onto the floor.

Harry walked over to Karasuba and knelt like a knight in front of his queen and asked, "Have I accomplished my mandate, fair lady?"

The two women merely looked at each other, and doubled in laughter again at the spectacle. Harry stood up, looked at Haihane, and grinned evilly like a Cheshire cat, "So… you're next, Haihane?"

The silver haired woman's laughter died immediately and she looked like she had just sucked on a lemon.

The only intelligible thing Harry could make out from her stammered and stuttered reply was, "Clowns… Insane… Boobs… "

This just caused Karasuba to laugh even harder, and even Harry couldn't hold his face any longer and his laughter joined Karasuba's. "Ok, enough fun, I believe I said I would do something for you Haihane, no?"

The woman could only nod apprehensively, since she had no idea what the crazy man who teleported around the room could possibly do for her. Karasuba finally recovered enough to listen in, though every time she glanced behind Harry the sound of her giggles would fill their ears like a five year old on a sugar high. All of the randomness was about to approach a level just on the other side of too much for Haihane, and Harry could tell her efforts to remain calm in the face of her suddenly increased levels of stress had begun to erode.

"Well, here's the story," Harry said as he sat down with his legs crossed in front of Haihane and Karasuba, where he then threw out his standard wards around them to ensure privacy.

Harry began, "I ask that you bear with me here, this whole explanation leads somewhere. Very long story short, I'm a wizard. There are hundreds of thousands of us, all over the planet, hidden for our own safety."

Harry held out his hand, "We can control fire, " and as he said this a small flame appeared in Harry's hand, "Water, " the flame froze into a perfect ice sculpture of flame, "Air," a light breeze began to pass by the three of them, "and Earth," Harry threw the piece of ice into the air and transfigured it into a piece of stone and caught it.

"We can destroy," Harry threw the stone and blasted it with a silent wandless _Reducto_, turning the stone into pieces of sand and dust.

Then Harry looked directly at Haihane and said, "And we can heal."

Harry reached out and touched the bandages exposed just past the massive gauntlets she wore, "Why do you wear these bandages all over your body?"

Haihane flinched, and looked at Karasuba, who simply nodded.

Harry wasn't sure if this action had just granted her permission to speak, or the encouragement to trust him, but he wasn't going to complain if it got Haihane to talk to him.

She looked down, "I accidentally cut myself… a lot… with my blades. It's usually the same places over and over again. A lot of them get infected, and most scar or leave holes and pieces of myself missing as they heal."

"So you bandage your entire body in order to hide yourself? The cuts and the scars?" Harry reached over and lifted her chin, so she would look him in the eye, "If I could heal you, if I could make it so the blades don't cut you anymore, would you still use the bandages?"

Eyes widened in disbelief at the possibilities offered by the question, "No, I wouldn't…. but that's not possible."

With the certainty that he now had her, Harry simply smiled his Potter Smile, and said, "Of course it's not possible, it's magic," and waved his arms comically in the air.

"Come on, let's fix you up. First, let's get you out of the gauntlets and these bandages. Set the gauntlets over there, we'll deal with them after this."

She walked over to a nearby wall and set the gauntlets down. Returning to Harry cautiously, she waited for what was next.

"Ok, do you trust me? Take off the Kimono and the bandages," turning to Karasuba, he asked, "Kara, please don't kill my friend as I summon him in. Dobby!"

Karasuba barely had time to raise an eyebrow in question when a tiny green pile of hats that bounced popped into the room. The odd shaped bobbed comically up and down with excitement.

"Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir. What does the great Harry Potter needs from his Dobby?"

With a look back at the two women, he said simply, "I'll explain him later, during the unabridged retelling of my life story," and stuck his tongue out.

Harry did not pause to wait for a reaction from the two silver-haired warriors. Instead, he turned to Dobby while keeping half an eye on the wounds slowly being revealed on Haihane's naked body as she removed her bandages, "Dobby, can you go to our potions room, and get me the following? Three, no… four jars of anti-bruise cream, two jars of scar removal cream, and start Tripsy up on brewing a three month supply of scar removal cream to cover roughly eight square feet per daily application? Thanks."

The elf merely nodded and popped away without another word.

"Where did that guy come from?" Karasuba asked once she found her voice.

"Again, long story told very short. That's Dobby, a house-elf. Wizards enslaved them millennia ago to be a servant race. Now they have symbiotic relationship with us, drawing magic to survive by being bonded to an individual or a family line. I saved Dobby from some really abusive masters about fifteen years ago, so he's rather over-the-top in his loyalty to me now."

Harry conjured a padded table, and motioned the now embarrassed and naked Haihane towards it, "Lay down on your back," and then promptly turned around again to give Haihane some measure of privacy. As she lay down, Harry conjured two towels to place across her chest and upper hips to protect her modesty.

"Don't worry," said Harry, looking directly into her eyes for emphasis, "I bet if I ogle you even once inappropriately, Karasuba will pound my skull into the ground faster than you can blink, right?"

The comment brought an affirmative nod from Karasuba, and small laugh to break the tension from Haihane.

"Now, what do we have here…"

Haihane had a beautiful figure, but it had been ravaged by both battle and her weapon of choice. She had open and infected wounds that looked like they have been continually aggravated and slashed dozens of times on her stomach and upper and outer legs. Randomly placed scars also covered most of her exposed pale body, and the towels likely covered even more.

"Alright, here's my plan Haihane. I'm going to first heal your open and infected wounds. Then we'll get the bruise paste over those to heal anything left over. Then, I'm going to do my best to heal some of the larger scars today. We'll focus mainly on stuff that's constricting and causes pain for you when you move. Scar tissue removal is really tedious work, and I could be spending the next month straight, eight hours a day likely getting rid of all of these. Unfortunately I really don't have the time to devote to that at the moment."

Haihane began to look crestfallen, at the thought that it would take that long to clear the ravages from her body and Harry wouldn't likely be able to dedicate the time to it.

"Hey," Harry said, as he touched the side of her cheek so she would look at him, "that's why I had Dobby bring scar removal cream with, along starting my potions elf up on brewing a massive batch for you to use on your own, ok? It'll take a bit longer, but the only effort involved will be putting this stuff on before you go to bed each night, ok?"

This statement brightened her mood considerably, and Harry focused his attention on which wound to heal first.

It was obvious where to start.

Among her various injuries, there was one large slash that bisected her stomach, that had stitches in it that seemed to have half pulled out.

Harry noticed she had leaned forward in attempt to watch what he was doing more closely so he decided to make her a bit more comfortable. "Here, I assume you wish to watch what I'm doing, so look into this," and with that, Harry conjured a mirror, floating in the air above her head, which could be angled to see what was going on."

"Thank you for all of this Harry," she said, slightly misty-eyed.

Harry simply looked at her with a small smile, and went to work.

Harry carried many wands on him at all times in a hidden holster on his right arm. His trusty Holly and Phoenix wand, Voldemort's original wand, his parent's wands, the legendary Elder wand, and finally, a wand he had picked up in Australia. It was short, only four inches, and made of Beachwood and Siren's hair. It was what was known internationally as an artisan's wand. It was for fine control when objects were enchanted or a patient needed to be a healed, as using something like the Elder Wand for meticulous work such as healing was the equivalent of using a Sledgehammer to break an egg to make an omelet. For most healing spells, fine control and patience were a must to prevent the victim from being scarred, and that's exactly what he wanted to prevent here.

"First, I'm numbing the area of this contusion," he said as he figured that Karasuba and Haihane would like the play by play so they might understand what was going on.

"Next I'm going to vanish the stitches since they won't be needed anymore," and with a wave of his wand, all the stitches in her stomach were gone.

"Now, the wound doesn't look infected on the surface, but there may be something inside that we can't see, so I'm going to pull it apart, and clean the whole wound magically before I begin closing it. Don't worry about pain, because the numbing charm will make sure you don't feel a thing from this."

Harry was not surprised that his guess was right, the wound didn't seem to have been cleaned properly in some areas, and this would have left a nasty surprise later on for Haihane to trooper through. A few quick _Scourgify_'s and the wound looked fresh and clean, and the wound no longer had any blood pooled in random spots anymore either.

"Now, I'm going to begin sealing up the deepest part of the wound with a mending charm. Different charms are used for different levels of the skin, as the higher you go the more 'dead matter' is in your skin"

After Harry had muttered incantations over the wound over the course of two minutes, both women watched fascinated as the four inch long wound began to slowly seal itself.

"Now, we clean up the top layer, and lay the foundation for the last spells to close everything up without a scar." The muttered and slow wand movements had begun again, only this time the rate the remainder of the wound mended seemed to almost go too slowly to see. Eventually, after twenty minutes of constant motion, Harry finished and left smooth skin in a half inch wide, four inch long line across her stomach where there was visibly no scar tissue present.

"And that is how you close and heal a wound. Go ahead, touch it." And both her and Karasuba touched it with amazement reflected upon both of their faces, though the blushing Haihane made when Karasuba touched her almost made Harry chuckle so he had to look away and pretend to examine her legs.

Harry adjusted the mirror so she could watch him work on her legs. There were six wounds there, and worked them all simultaneously through each stage. Eventually, an hour and a half later, all the wounds were completely healed and looked like they had never been in the first place. He had Karasuba administer some anti-bruise paste to those areas, while Harry began his debate on what to do next.

Harry then thought it was best to solve the problem then continue to deal with consequences of it.

"You'll need to start putting the anti-scar cream on each night. No bandages needed or anything like that afterwards, it'll get absorbed directly into the skin with each treatment. You can even shower right afterwards to get rid of the nasty smell the stuff gives off. Do this for two to three months, and every scar will be gone. When I have time, I'm sure I can spend an hour or two helping them along with my wand too, ok?"

The smile he was getting from Haihane could've lit a city like Toyko on its own for a day.

"I still have a lot of things to do today, so I think I'm going to skip out on the major scar cleansing for now. What I really want to get accomplished now is to enchant your gauntlets so there's no chance of you accidentally slicing yourself with them anymore."

"And just how is that possible?" asked Karasuba. There was no doubt in the question. She was avidly curious what else magic had the power to perform that would make their lives a bit easier.

"I'm going to put a few enchantments on them. Warming charms to keep the metal slightly warm so they won't be cold in the few places where they touch her bare skin. I'll embed runes so they won't ever break or lose sharpness. Probably put some cushioning charms in there so they feel like they're padded on the inside. The most important thing I'll do is add a blood-repelling ward to the sharpened metal surfaces of them. This way, they won't be able to get within a half inch or so of your skin unless you're deliberately trying to push through them. Otherwise, there will be a very slight repulsion against them every time you inadvertently get too close to yourself."

Haihane's eyebrows rows steadily and more steadily upwards with each added detail of what the gauntlets would be capable of now. Karasuba's weren't that much different, but looked thoughtful at the time. Harry assumed she was thinking of what could possibly be added to her Katana, but Harry had other plans for Karasuba's choice of weapon.

"Dobby!"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir."

"I need you to bring a few books here to me. I need the two main books on metal-based weapon enchants I know are in the Potter library, and that really nasty looking Blood Ward book that was part of the Black Library that we placed in the main vault."

"Also, can you bring me two random books that are introductions to magic? About intent and stuff like that. Just make sure they weren't written in England. They should be among the things I purchased right when I arrived in South America."

After Dobby popped away again, he turned to the girls, who were busied themselves with the application of the scar removal cream to Haihane. Unable to control the inadvertent blush that now had his face a bright red due to the sight of two females rubbing Haihane's still naked body, Harry focused on the start of the disassembly of Haihane's gauntlets.

While he did that, he spoke aloud to the girls, "When he brings those books back, I can make a translated copy of both, so you can read them instead of getting bored watching me etch runes into Haihane's gauntlets."

The slow tedious work wasn't something to induce high levels of excitement, especially for the action prone Sekirei, so the two women sat and read about the strange new world of magic while Harry meticulously placed all the required runes and charms on the arm-sized weapons. Eventually, he had Haihane place some blood in a vial, which he then extracted with an eye dropper and placed one drop each on each blood rune that was engraved before he empowered each rune cluster.

The final product easily re-assembled with a wave of Harry's hand, and Haihane tentatively pulled them over her arms.

"Oh wow," exclaimed as her arms slid in. "The difference is like like night and day. They're much more comfortable than they were before."

Harry grinned, "Cushioning charms are one of the most amazing things ever created. I figured you might like those."

She nodded vigorously and had steeled her face as she geared herself up for the true test. She extended a clawed finger and went to tap the middle of her leg with it slowly. The finger got to within a half inch of her skin before it was repelled upwards slightly.

Haihane's eyes widened as she tried it again and added more fingers each time. She poked more places on her body, never once did the blades touch her skin. She now looked like a proverbial three year old with ants in her pants as Karasuba and Harry observed her contortions as she continued to poke herself.

"I take it you're satisfied?" Harry asked, not even slightly ashamed at his failure to keep his amusement out of his voice as he posed the question.

"Oh my god yes, this is amazing, I can't thank you enough for this," she said almost so fast it could not be made out, as she continued to poke herself and paid attention to nothing else.

With a tight smile, Harry figured Karasuba deserved something as well.

"May I borrow your katana for a bit?" Harry asked.

"Sure," she said while removing from her belt and handed it still within the scabbard to Harry without hesitation. Harry was surprised trust in him had come so fast, but wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He grinned mischievously and called "Dobby!" who returned and greeted him with his standard introduction, "Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry however, did not want this order heard by Karasuba, and placed a _Muffliato_ charm to silence his conversation. "Dobby, I want you to go through the Potter and Black armories, and see if there are any swords in there similar in size and shape to this Katana. If there are, bring them and each of their Book of Deeds entries back here. Also, can you bring me two necklaces? The supply I keep on me in my travelling trunk is running low, and I think I'll need them?"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir. Won't take but a moments," and he popped away with Karasuba's sword.

Harry looked at her and smiled with a twinkle in his eye while she nervously looked at him. He knew she wondered why he had the sword taken away somewhere rather than enchant it here himself.

"Just be patient a few minutes Kara, then you'll see."

After five minutes, Dobby returned with the sword, but was accompanied by three other Potter and Black elves. Each elf, was carrying a Katana, housed inside scabbards of wildly different design. One was as plain as the Karasuba's scabbard, and the other two could be fit for kings. Harry took the swords and placed them on the table, then turned to the elves and said, "Thank you Dobby, Haphne, Rio, Scooby. That was excellent work finding these and their deeds." With their mission completed the elves popped away.

He opened the book and gave no acknowledgement to Karasuba's raised eyebrow. He needed to know where these swords came from and what kind of enchants were on them. It certainly wouldn't do if one carried any sort of curse.

The book of deeds on each one was quite thorough. All three had been taken in the late 1300's by the Potter family after a massive battle in Eastern Europe. The Potters led the charge, and were allowed their pick of the spoils of war taken from the defeated enemy troops. The three swords were goblin made, and commissioned for mercenaries from the Far East who had been hired by the now defeated Dark Lord that had instigated the battle. The Potter head of family present, a Richard Potter, thought the swords were highly unique and would look good in a place of honor in the family armory, since they were not of the broad or short sword variety that was more prevalent in Europe at the time.

Richard had made inquiries at Gringotts at the time, and the Asian branches of Gringots had provided all the details of the weapons, including their original crafters, and who their rights were sold to. Richard Potter was so impressed with the craftsmanship he paid for the rights of perpetuity, so that Goblin claims of ownership would never apply in this case. The Potters would fully own the weapons in the eyes of the goblins for all time.

The list of enchantments on the Katana's finally drew Harry's eye. They were all standard for the Goblins. Crafted of goblin steel, enchanted ever sharp, could be summoned if lost directly back to the scabbard by a certain pass phrase if the sword was ever lost… and there it was.

The two swords in more decorative scabbards could also be used as magical focus's.

Harry looked up a Karasuba, who had taken only one sword out so far to look at. "See something you like?" Hanging out with Karasuba and Haihane was some of the most fun he had had in a long while. People who could be provided help when they had no preconceived notions or desire to take anything from Harry before they met him was always something that endeared people to him.

"These swords are beautiful," was all she could say, stunned by the works of art before her.

"All three were taken as spoils of war in the late 1300's in a battle in Eastern Europe. All three are Goblin made, and were used by Japanese mercenaries who had somehow been hired by a Middle Eastern Dark Lord as he attempted to conquer Europe. I'm not sure if the battles were part of the later crusades or not, I haven't had time to read all the notes yet."

"The two decorative swords were made for the leaders of the mercenaries; two brothers. The more inconspicuous katana is Goblin made as well, but does not contain as many enchants and protections as the other two have."

As he read, she nodded her understanding and tried to get a feel for each sword.

Eventually, after she had looked at all three swords, Karasuba looked as Harry stared at her intently with a half-smile on his face.

"Kara, I would like you to pick of these swords and accept it as a gift."

She vigorously shook her head, "I couldn't possibly take one of these, they're priceless, they're works of art, they're…"

"Gathering dust in a vault along with hundreds of other weapons that are centuries old. Those 'works of art' can help keep you alive better then the katana you've been using any day of the week. Also, I think you'll enjoy one last detail of the two brother's swords… "

Harry walked over, and unsheathed one of the decorative swords, it had an inlay of feathers along the blade, which seemed highly appropriate given the meaning of Karasuba's name.

He conjured a rock in the middle of the room, pointed the sword at it, and whispered, "Reducto."

A bright flash of light flew out of the sword and connected with the stone, which was immediately replaced by an explosive cloud of dust and debris.

"You can use this as a magical focus as well, something I doubt your current sword will allow you to do." He sheathed the sword in the scabbard and walked over to Karasuba, he held it up with two hands, horizontal to the ground, and unsheathed it just enough to see the inlays.

"I thought the inlay for this particular one might be symbolic for you."

She saw the inlayed feathers and smiled in understanding and simply nodded. She placed her hands over his and said, "Thank you for this gift. There's no way I could ever repay you for this."

"Stay alive, that's all I ask of you," was Harry's simple response.

Harry turned to Haihane, who had openly marveled at the beauty of the two other swords for the past few minutes, "Sorry Haihane, there isn't exactly anything like your weapons in the armories I have access to. Maybe at some point we can commission the goblins to make you a pair of those."

The smile she gave was immediately followed by a pulse of the Veela-like compulsion that Karasuba hit Harry with earlier.

"Ugh, Haihane, can you calm down a bit, maybe clear your mind?" Harry groaned as he reached up and grabbed his forehead.

Karasuba instantly recognized what was happening as well, and attempted to get Haihane to focus her mind on something other than Harry while she explained just exactly she had done.

After a minute or two, after she had calmed down her feelings a bit, Haihane said while she gestured at the gauntlets she held loosely in her hands, "Well, let me keep these for a while before you spoil me even further," she said, before she turned back to gaze at the swords and collect her thoughts on what had just transpired between the two of them.

Harry nodded with understanding, and decided to give his last two gifts out before making a hasty retreat for the day to collect his own thoughts.

"Whenever I meet people around the world, I always use that translation charm to talk to them. However, it can get annoying getting staying in contact with them half a year later when we don't actually have any languages in common to communicate."

"So, I began making these necklaces for people I really wished to stay in touch with. I've only ever given them out to the few friends I keep in touch with in England and France. I had Dobby bring one for each of you. The chain is unbreakable, so it can't be ripped off of your neck, and there's also a cushioning effect on it as well, so no one can hurt you by getting the necklace caught on something either."

"The most important thing is that it will permanently cast the translation charm you have on you now whenever you wear it. This way you'll never have to worry about not understanding me, or any other person you ever meet for as long as you wear those necklaces."

He handed the two gold necklaces over, each one with a medallion embossed with the Potter Family crest upon it.

"That's my family crest on the medallion," each looked up at that, trying to ponder the significance of the gesture..

"Normally in the past it would mean that each of you would be brought under my family's protection, etc. But I think most people need protection from the two of you." All three chuckled at this.

He looked at his watch and discovered to his dismay it was now three in the afternoon, leaving him little time to get a few other things he wanted done before going to the hotel tonight.

"Well, I don't want to impose on you both for the rest of the day, and I'm sure at some point people are going to have questions about 'Nubs' over there." This brought a fresh round of giggles, since Benitsubasa still had not moved from where Harry had stunned her earlier.

Getting serious, Karasuba asked, "How do we contact you again? If you think I'm letting you walk out of here without ever seeing you again, you're crazy."

Smiling broadly, I simply said, "Dobby!"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir. What cans Dobby do for Harry and his Missesses."

The addition at the end of the greeting caused both women to look sharply at Harry with eyes wide open.

Harry smirked, "Like I said, those necklaces mean you are under the protection of House Potter. You can call Dobby or any of the other elves in my employ to you at any time to help with something, though I would appreciate if you only asked him to pass messages back and forth for now. He can find you at any time or place, and help me get to you. So if you need me for anything, let him know, and if I'm not too busy, I can be at your side in seconds."

Both girls jumped at him, crushing him with hugs that caused Harry to think, '_Hagrid's hugs have nothing on these two_.'


	4. Falling Birds from the Sky

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Chapter Original Publish Date: 2012-02-29

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-28

**Chapter 4 - Falling Birds from the Sky**

Harry had apparated directly from the training room at the MBI building to his hotel room to drop off some of the things he had picked up before his introduction to Karasuba that morning. The more he thought while he cleaned up in the shower, the more he figured if something did happen long-term with Haihane and Karasuba, he should get a local presence here in town. He asked his head financial management elf Rio to contact the Gnomes about a transfer of money to a non-MBI owned bank and to then purchase a large property within the Tokyo city limits. He would then have the local Gringotts Asia branch contacted so the property could be magically expanded on the inside and then warded to hell and back.

With that taken care of, and an estimate of two to three days tops for results to appear, Harry found himself now in a market district adjacent to a local university. He was looking for a place to get food while he pondered the information dump about Sekirei's he had received that morning and afternoon.

He finally spotted a café that showed promise in the distance while he passed a large group of students who had created a mild scene as they loudly squabbled over grades posted on a public board. Rather than fight his way through the crowd, Harry simply put up a large muggle repelling ward on the scoreboard that would last five minutes, which instantly dispersed the crowd and allowed him through. They would all remember the need to get their grades from the board after the ward collapsed when Harry was long gone from the area.

While the crowd began to disperse without any further incidents or need for, he mentally reviewed what he knew of the Sekirei '_bonds_' Karasuba had described to him. This Sekirei bond seemed to be very similar to the type of soul-bond which Veela use to find their life mates. The main difference was that multiple Sekirei's could link to the same Ashikabi. But there were additional differences that left them more dissimilar to the standard soul-bond between a witch and wizard.

With soul-bonds, if one person died, the second died within seconds. The Sekirei bond seemed to be only half of that. If the Sekirei died, there did not seem to be any visible effect on the Ashikabi beyond the likely psychological trauma that would occur. However, if the Ashikabi died, all Sekirei bonded to the Ashikabi died as well.

What had really sparked his interest was the idea that Karasuba and Haihane were not properly bonded to their Ashikabi. First of all, their Ashikabi was homosexual, and had not seemed to share an ounce of affection with them. Second, and most important, they had been forcibly bonded against their will. So the bond, while it existed, was terribly weak.

Through his shared with Fleur after her divorce, Harry had heard many horror stories of Veela taken against their will and forcibly bonded to a wizard through rituals. Fortunately, those bonds could be shattered later if they met someone they considered their true mate. Harry would have to proceed carefully here, maybe even contact Fleur to get some advice if he got too far over his head.

It was considered extremely bad form in the Magical World to ignore a bond with a magical being when the bond has been initiated. It can lead to mental illness, madness, and even the death of the magical being. The upside of this is that once a true magical bond forms, and the two individuals do not get along, they can go their separate ways with no consequences to their lives or magic. A '_weak_' bond would be formed, that could later be overwritten if either being encounters another person with the capability to become their true mate.

If Harry found himself in the position where he had to bond Kara and Haihane, he would do so, but he needed to make sure they would be safe first. They worked directly for the scum behind this ominous "Sekirei Plan," and Harry wasn't going to half-ass jump into something if it put either of them at risk if he proceeded too quickly. Harry's Gryffindor instincts which urged him to leap before he looked had died years earlier when he found someone other than himself involved.

Harry's thoughts at this point were interrupted by one of the strangest things that had ever happened to him. A very well-endowed woman, in a white traditional Japanese gi outfit with a red skirt, appeared suddenly above him and screamed bloody murder to get out of the way while she fell out of the sky towards him.

Despite the strange sight, Harry at least had the presence of mind to cast a cushioning charm on himself and the ground behind him before she violently impacted with him. He still saw stars for a second, and when he was able to focus on what was in front of him, he realized he was staring straight up the girl's skirt at her spread-eagled legs and white cotton panties inches from his nose.

'_Well, isn't this interesting_', he groaned internally. If Neville was here, Harry would have already bet money that a Sekirei had just landed on him. This really would be his luck.

His thoughts of woe were interrupted when the girl realized just what her position was and began a quick scramble to her feet, where she unintentionally kneed Harry in the bits. Something she immediately realized from the groans that issued forth from Harry.

"Oh I'm so sorry, but thank you. You must be the kind person who caught me, I don't know if I could have handled hitting the ground the way I did without injury. Wait, how did you not get hurt from me falling?"

Harry slowly got to his feet and stretched a bit. Then, he proceeded to the number one priority of all men in their mid-twenties and checked to see his ability to father a child was still intact. He turned to the girl, hit her with the translation charm, smiled and simply said, "Magic."

She pouted comically, "There's no such thing as magic, don't be silly."

Every time Harry heard someone say those words, he just had to laugh. He looked at the girl and said, "Well, maybe I'll demonstrate some for yo-"

"Watch out!" the girl suddenly screamed and pushed Harry out of the way. Massive purple bolts of lightning suddenly impacted where they had just stood and left a smoking crater a meter deep. Harry barely noticed this though, as the girls comically massive breasts smashed into his face as he landed.

'_Holy Hannah… those have to be about the biggest natural pair I've ever seen_,' he thought in amazement.

Any thoughts of comparison quickly vanished from Harry's mind however as he heard voices high above shout, "There's no use running!"

"We'll just find you again, so fight with us."

Harry quickly caught on that the faceless voices had spoken to the girl only and had ignored him completely.

Harry and the flying breast girl slowly got off the ground, and she responded to their attackers with, "I can't fight, well at least not yet."

'_Ah, that's it. She must not be winged yet_,' thought Harry.

Harry could see their attackers now, who stood about six stories up on top of the building next to them. They were twin girls with black hair, large chests, and utterly ridiculous S&M outfits on. One of them responded to the girl at Harry's side with, "You may not feel like fighting right now sweetie… BUT WE DO!"

Parachute girl suddenly grabbed Harry's arm and nearly ripped it out of the socket when she started to run away at a speed faster than a cheetah could.

"Stop!" Harry yelled, and the girl obeyed, though she was clearly worried about the pair of girls rapidly who rapidly approached them by jumping from roof to roof. He was not mad at her though, not with a face as innocent as this girl had. The girl seemed genuinely ok to Harry, since she was just trying to get him to safety and away from the two nut jobs that were even now approached without any caution at all.

However, she assumed he was just a normal human.

"Stay right there," Harry coldly spoke as he mentally prepared to unleash his full aura and drill these two punks straight into the concrete.

"Wait, they'll hurt-" the girl started to say, but Harry held up a hand and said, "I know they're Sekirei, just like you, right?"

The girl was happy to hear Harry had heard of Sekirei's and broke into a beaming smile. '_Damn she's cute and innocent_,' thought Harry once again.

"Well, don't worry about me, I know exactly how to take these two out," and Harry started a slow deliberate walk towards the two girls.

Harry started an internally debate about how to approach this while he still had a few moments. He wanted this over quickly and decisively. He mentally reviewed the possibilities that he now faced. How was this fight going to go down? Lightning attacks? '_Well, water could let them fry themselves, but I think it might be wise to keep them somewhat undamaged in case I need to interrogate them. Either way, no one is touching that girl behind me._'

The girls finally caught up, and saw the look in Harry's eyes, but rather stupidly discounted him immediately. "Run along little man, we don't want to have to hurt you," said Stupid Twin Number One.

This was followed by Stupid Twin Number Two saying, "Yeah, we're only interested in the airhead behind you."

Harry had had enough and let all restraint go on his magical core, his full aura flew out like a shockwave, the pulse scattered paper and dirt on the street everywhere in a dust cloud that quickly enveloped them.

With the magic coursing through his body, a whisper unintentionally had an audible range of a hundred meters. He didn't even need to gesture to hit both of them with the translation charm. His magic was pissed and it would do just about anything he wanted it to with minimal conscious effort in a situation like this.

"I don't like bullies you know... people who fight two on one. Isn't that against the rules of your little Sekirei Plan? Well, here's a fair fight… Me vs. the two of you. You have five seconds to decide how to spend the remainder of your life with your limbs intact and unbroken, starting now."

"Five"

"What is this dweeb talking about?" said Twin Number Two.

"Four"

"I don't know, but I don't think we should mess with him," said Twin Number One as her eyes widened suddenly as they took in the surrounding area.

"Three"

"Oh you're such a coward, he's only a human, and Seo's not going to have anything to eat unless with deal with that chick and get back to work," angrily said Twin Two.

"Two"

"Fine, but you're the one to tell him if this goes bad on us,' said Twin One, as she moved into a defensive position.

"One"

"Deal," said Twin Two, while she mimicked her twin's posture.

'_Oh,_ j_ust end this stupidity_,' thought Harry, '_For crying out loud they were talking about food_.'

He apparated behind them, double stupefied each, and then banished the unconscious bodies into a brick wall. '_Well, at least there were a few satisfying crunches when the two morons hit the_ wall,' smirked Harry inwardly. The whole fight had taken less than two seconds.

The flying girl had quickly run up and joined him, and Harry gave her a lop-sided grin and said to her, "Well, that was anticlimactic, wasn't it."

The girl seemed absolutely giddy with excitement and spoke a mile a minute, "Wow that was great, you saved me. You didn't even break a sweat with them, and the wind and the stuff flying in the air and then they..."

Harry suddenly stilled, held up a hand to silence her, and looked up. He flung a wide area translation charm and announced loudly, "So now you want to play too, huh?"

Above them, there was a masked person who stood on top of the building that Harry had banished the two morons towards. However, silence from the masked stranger was all that greeted Harry and his new companion after his question.

Harry thought he quickly had the gist of what was going on however, "So, you're an opportunist. You were just going to wait up there for the battle to get going between them and then pick off the survivors at the end when they were at their weakest. All in the name of your game, huh?"

The only sound that greeted this statement was the rustling of the wind. The masked observer said nothing and did not move a muscle in acknowledgement of Harry's query.

"I hate bullies, that's what these two shits are… but I hate vultures even more," Harry growled. He suddenly reached out with an arm, grabbed a handful of air, and pulled back violently.

The unexpected _Acio_ caused the observer to emit a girlish yelp of shock as they were yanked through the air to Harry. The shriek stopped with the person's neck firmly in the grasp of Harry's outstretched hand.

The person just started stammering in both shock and apparent denial of Harry's statement. "I… I… had no intention… I'm here to wat-" was the beginning of the stuttered reply Harry simply gripped the person's throat event tighter.

The person, obviously getting desperate, extended both arms straight out, conjuring fireballs in both hands. A casual Flame Freezing charm turned both flames into ice which shattered when they hit the pavement. Harry let go of the masked observer, and with a casual flick of his hand, banished him into the brick wall feet from the Doofus twins.

Harry's anger had started to get the better of him, "Who do you think you are? Take that weak-ass shit somewhere else, son. You won't win any fight with me with that worthless crap."

Dazed and in shock, the person could only weakly whisper, "Who are you? You're no Sekirei."

"Wow, a smart one too. Nothing gets by you, boy… girl… whatever the hell you are," Harry said while waving a hand dismissively, still keeping both the masked observer and the Doofus twins in his field of vision.

Harry barely noticed the eyes seemed downcast at the insult. His words to the unknown masked stranger seemed to sting a bit more then he figured it would.

Then Harry realized he didn't even know the name of the other person he was with, so he turned to the girl in white next to him. Changing personalities faster than a nut job in a sanitarium, Harry plastered a winning lop-sided grin on and said, "I didn't catch your name earlier after you fell on top of me and sat on my face. I'm Harry Potter, exiled wizard formerly of England."

The girl, distressed mere seconds earlier at the blatant violence Harry was capable of throwing around, turned an emotional 180, smiled broadly and said, "I'm Musubi, Number 88. I'm a fist-type."

Harry nodded and merely commented, "Like Benitsubasa then, got it."

Harry was about to continue his verbal sparring with Black Mask when the strongest wave yet of Veela-like Allure smacked him upside the head, all of it emanating from Musubi.

'_Now is not the time to start making out with a chick,_' thought Harry while he slammed down his Occlumency shields with all the concentration he could possibly muster.

"Musubi, you don't need to say it, I felt it. You want me to be your Ashikabi, right?" She beamed and nodded eagerly.

"Well, let's deal with these three idiots first, and then we can talk about that later. Ok?"

With that, Harry fell back upon an old Marauder's stand-by he had read about in his father's journals. What do you do when confronted by someone you don't know will be an enemy or ally? Mock them repeatedly until they prove themselves otherwise. "I'll just call you 'Pat', ok? You can be a boy or girl. This way I don't get in trouble when I eventually figure it out. I can just keep calling you that."

The person's eyes narrowed, "The name is Homura."

Harry was hitting a groove however, "Nah, I like Pat instead. Vultures and opportunists don't deserve real names. Besides you didn't even proudly give me your number like Musubi did here. I'm sure there's even a dance routine that's supposed to be in there too as you announce it, right?"

At this insult, Homura slumped his shoulders in defeat, "Number 6."

"Number 6, eh? Imagine that? Little 'ole me meeting two single digits in the same day. What a small world," Harry sneered.

It was a typical tactic for Harry, learned straight from the best. Give some half-useless information out, and gauge and see what kind of reaction it got. Shock at that statement definitely crossed the man's exposed face.

Harry's Legilimency got flashes of a few people, before the Masked Wonder's mind connected Harry's mention of Benitsubasa to the Discipline Squad and then an image of Karasuba stayed front and center in the person's thoughts. Harry assumed the other faces he saw flashes of were the other low digit Sekirei he hadn't run into yet.

Turning to Musubi, Harry smiled, "So Musubi old pal, what do we do with these three hooligans"

Homura interrupted, "They're the lightning twins," gesturing at the unconscious girls to his side. "Hibiki and Hikari. They're only interested in eliminating un-winged Sekirei. They're taking out the competition before they get winged and get stronger and are a threat to them."

"The moment Number 88 is winged, they won't bother her anymore."

Despite the information, Harry couldn't resist. This guys/girls buttons were so much fun to press, "And what about you, Pat?"

The flash of rage was followed by a burst of fire. It had barely begun forming before it was instantly quenched with the _Aquamenti_ that Harry drenched Homura with from head to toe. Homura was left leaning against the wall, soaking wet with steam rising from him.

"Ah ah ah, it's all fun and games until someone's knickers get soaked," said Harry as he waved a solitary finger back and forth in front of Homura's face.

Silence reigned as Homura simply glowered at Harry.

'_Screw this, I still haven't eaten. Time for my own brand of intimidation_,' thought Harry in frustration as he flared his aura and simply stared into Homura's eyes while he replayed a memory of being _Crucio'd_ by Voldemort in his mind.

"Answer the question, Pat. What's Number 88 to you?"

Homura's eyes widened like saucers, and Musubi took an involuntary step back and squeaked out an involuntary "Eeep!"

Homura had quickly realized just how dangerous his situation was and the amount of life-threatening trouble he was potentially seconds away from. He quickly blurted out, "I was tasked to be a Guardian, to protect un-winged Sekirei from those who would take advantage of them. I try and stop them from being attacked them in groups when they're un-winged, or by stopping unworthy Ashikabi attempting to forcibly wing them.

The Legilimency scan Harry had just slammed through Homura's eyes verified everything Homura just said.

Harry dropped the aura, smiled the good ole lop-sided Potter grin, and patted Homura lightly on the cheek, "See Pat, that wasn't so bad. All you needed to say was that you were a good guy."

With a casual wave and an utterance of _Finite_, Homura felt his ability to move returned to him.

"Stand up," Harry ordered Homura.

Homura reluctantly did so, and with another wave of Harry's hands, Homura's clothes and hair were dry.

Harry turned and walked over to Musubi, smiled, and placed an arm around her shoulders, "Now, good lady, what do you suggest we do about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb here?"

Harry thought for a moment, before he felt his inner Marauder kick in.

With a sudden snap of his fingers and a roguish smile, he turned to Homura, "Can they electrocute themselves? I know they can both throw electricity around. What happens if they hit each other with it?"

Homura pondered this for a few seconds and said, "I've seen them toast each other before in battle, so it's possible. They're just like their Ashikabi. The two of them aren't exactly bright."

After a quick chuckle at his own creativity, Harry waved an arm as both twins rose in the air and turned around, their wrists crossed behind their backs. With another wave of his hands, two pieces of cloth were conjured and wove themselves around their wrists, which left the twins bound securely as they floated in the air.

Then, after he placed them unceremoniously on the ground, he conjured a copper wire and lightly wrapped one of their fingers each in with it. Harry enjoyed watching both Musubi and Homura shake their heads in disbelief at the casual display of powers they had never encountered before.

Harry told the two, "I figure it'll take a few seconds or maybe even a full minute or so to burn through those cloth ties on their wrists."

"In the mean time, they 'toast' each other through the wire, as our fiery friend just referred to it."

Harry noticed they both seemed to be rather shocked by what he was going to make the two endure as punishment for their crimes. Seeing their reactions, Harry winced internally. '_Well, time to get on my soapbox_,' thought Harry.

"Would you rather I ask Musubi take each of their Crests and eliminate them here and now, Homura? Hmm?" Harry glared at them.

Harry continued, "It certainly sounds fair after all, they were going to try and forcibly eliminate Musubi back there in a two on one fight, while you sat on your high horse and didn't interfere." Homura and Musubi both look down at this, thoroughly chastised.

"This course of action hopefully gets it through their thick skulls that Musubi is not to be messed with, and neither am I. Besides, if they have half-a brain between the two of them they'll realize they can just take the wire off. Both of their hands are right next to each other after all."

Harry turned back to the sisters, "Lets wake up the two morons and get out of here."

When he tried to set up people to underestimate him later, Harry would often slowly speak his incantations out loud and used exaggerated hand and wand movements. This was one such case where he spoke his incantations out loud. Two exaggerated _Rennervates_ hit the twins, which brought them out of the grip of Morpheus.

"Ugh, my head."

"What the hell is going on?"

"I can't move."

"Shut up, bitches," Harry finally growled.

"I'll give you a bitch!" Twin Number One abruptly shouted, and promptly zapped herself and her sister silly. The other twin then started to charge up her powers and did the exact same thing.

"What's going on?"

"Quit zapping me!"

Harry just laughed at the situation, walked around them, and verified the bindings took at least some heat damage. It wasn't his intention that the morons stay there all too long. Only that they endure a bit of self-torture while on their way to freedom.

Harry walked back around to the front of the two sisters, and stood between Homura and Musubi.

"Well, have you two idiots figured it what's going on yet?" he finally asked.

Both sisters said nothing. They merely glared at Harry.

"Bah, you're no fun. I don't even get to insult your stupidity if you just stay silent. So, I'm just going to tell you both what your punishment is and then leave you here, because quite frankly, you two bore me."

Harry continued, "You're both bound with cotton bindings, they should easily burn if you run enough current through them. Unfortunately, I may have tied a piece of copper wiring between the two of you, so, as you nuke your binding, you'll also nuke your sister.

Harry's last proclamation was met with dual shouts of "What?" Harry simply laughed and continued.

"It shouldn't take more than a minute or two hopefully of constant voltage to set fire to the bindings and set yourselves free. Then again, it also means nuking your sister with voltage for that long as well."

He instantly threw a memory of being attacked by a Dementor into his mind, while staring at each twin. They began to push away from Harry as quickly as their unbound legs could carry them as they shivered in response to his aura. Musubi and Homura didn't seem to fair much better as they were backing away as well.

"Take this as an abject lesson on what happens to anyone who fucks with me or any Sekirei I'm with, regardless of whether I'm their Ashikabi or not. Got it you two little shits?"

Their heads bouncing up and down like bobble heads in acknowledgment, so Harry promptly turned and began a slow walk out the alleyway, Musubi and Homura hot on his heels.

As they walked away from the still freaked out twins, Homura said softly, "Seo's, not going to be happy with you for hurting his girls."

"Who's Seo?" Harry asked, though he assumed what the answer would be, but asked just to be sure.

"Their Ashikabi", said Homura with a motion back towards the twin terrors.

Harry looked Homura right in the eye, "Well, he should've been here protecting them, and not sending them out to go and double-team un-winged Sekirei, shouldn't he? He's got no sympathy coming from me. If I was either of your Ashikabi, and it looks like I likely will be Musubi's, and you intended to go running around looking for fights, I'd damn well be right there next to you the whole time."

Silence was all this statement was met with.

With a sudden flash of recollection, Harry remembered a casual comment made by Karasuba earlier that day. Harry turned to Musubi and asked, "Were you part of the group of Sekirei released yesterday, Musubi?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

Harry ignored the question. Musubi would be in danger until she was winged, so he needed to make sure she was safe until he decided whether to become her Ashikabi or not. It wasn't really a hard decision given his knowledge of the Magical World and Sekirei in general, but he still wanted to wait a bit longer.

"Where are you staying now?

She looked downcast suddenly. "Um, I don't have anywhere to stay, or any money, or food. I was so excited when it was announced yesterday that I finally got to leave the MBI building and find my Ashikabi that I forgot my MBI Credit card. So, I've just been looking for my Ashikabi, and was drawn this way. That's when I ran into those two girls."

She had stopped moving and looked forlornly down at her feet. She looked like she'd aged down to a ten year old girl in stature. The weight of the whole world on her shoulders, and she had nowhere to go.

Suddenly, she looked at Harry, desperation and hope clearly in her eyes, "Would you be my Ashikabi, Harry?"

He had half expected her to ask this after what happened in the alleyway, it just wasn't something he expected to have to answer this so quickly. '_Was every Sekirei that he met going to want to bond to him?_' he whined internally in his head.

"You'll need to hear what my life has been like first, Musubi. I'm not sure if you'll want me after you find out. And I would want you to know before I agreed to it."

"Why, what's wrong? How can I help you?"

Harry couldn't help but smile ruefully at her enthusiasm.

"I will tell you, later. I promise." Harry turned to Homura, "Hey Pat, oh Guardian of repressed Sekirei's…"

Harry figured that he had made some progress with the masked dude, because he wasn't getting angry anymore. All that this last quip had elicited from him was an eye-roll.

"If you're tasked with keeping watch over and helping the newbies, does that also imply there's a super-secret newly-released Sekirei sanctuary out there Musubi can go to for shelter?"

Homura looked at Harry, as if some internal battle were being waged in his mind. Then he finally said, "Yeah, there's someplace I can take you… both of you in fact, if you want. I actually stay there as well, but I go by the name of Kagari while there. Please respect that."

The side of Harry's lip pulled upwards, he couldn't resist that one. "Sure Gary, whatever you say."

Twitch.

And there it is. Homura had gone down the path of nervous tic eye-twitching. Harry's day was now complete. Getting veins to pop out of people's head's was nothing. But a nervous tic, that took skill.

Harry called over his shoulder, "What and where exactly is this place we could be going to?"

"It's an Inn in the north part of the city. It's called the Izumo Inn and is run by an old friend named Miya," said Homura casually.

Harry abruptly stopped, turned, and narrowed his eyes at the mention of the name of the woman who was likely the one who had put his Kara through so much pain in her life

'_Whoa big man, she's 'my' Kara now?_' Harry yelled at himself. '_Today has messed with my head worse than I thought_.'

Homura raised an eyebrow at my reaction, "Problem with Miya?"

Harry decided to not burn his bridge quite yet, but still hedged his bets with his response, "No, not directly. I know someone who does though. I'll hold my judgment on her for now. She's done nothing to me, yet."

The group continued walking, now on the street. "So how are we getting there? Walking? Or you have a faster way of getting there."

"I can carry you Harry", volunteered Musubi cheerfully, "if Kagari leads the way that is."

"I actually don't need to be carried, as lovely as that sounds Musubi.' Harry said dramatically, "Just start moving and I can follow however fast you both go."

Homura didn't seem inclined to wait for an explanation, annoyed as he was with the whole debacle, so he immediately jumped up and began travelling north across rooftops.

Homura couldn't go nearly as fast as Karasuba travelled that morning, so Harry was able to keep up much easier than his previous jaunt across rooftops. He was even able to apparate in front of Homura a few times, which elicited a very loud squawk of surprise.

Eventually, Homura went down to street level and began a slow walk on a public sidewalk in the middle of a residential area. "Miya doesn't like people jumping down into her yard, or approaching the general area at high speed, so we'll walk the rest of the way."

At this point, Homura removed his mask, which exposed his face for the first time. Harry only shrugged at the statement. "Her house, her rules I guess."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Musubi bounced along excitedly. She clearly enjoyed their adventure so far and Harry could not help but notice that she walked closer and closer in proximity to him.

Just to break the silence and tension he was reading from 'Kagari', he asked, "So what's the rent going to cost us, if we decide to stay there, Kagari?"

That earned Harry a strange look from Homura, who didn't seem to have processed what Harry had asked, only reacting that he had actually used a proper name for once for him. For a few seconds, there was silence, and then he chuckled under his breath with a genuine laugh for the first time in Harry's presence.

"No one pays rent there. Miya complains constantly about people owing back rent, but it's mainly an excuse she uses to try and get people to obey her. Mostly people just do odd chores around the inn to help her out."

"Interesting method of control," Harry mused out loud. "I take it she has no need for the money then?"

"No, the place was once her husband's. She owns it now that he's dead. I believe she's fairly well set financially, that's why she runs the place like a sanctuary," Homura said.

"Well, I can probably help get people a lot more free time away from house-hold chores. I have a few ways to make sure they're always done."

Harry had glanced a few times at Homura out of the corner of his eye, and caught him looking at him.

"So what's your deal," Homura asked. "Normally Ashikabi will fall over themselves whenever a Sekirei offers to let them wing. You just stood there, smiled, and said you would talk about it later."

"My life is not exactly normal. I'm pretty sure I understand this bond you all form. It's basically a one-sided soul-bond. However I'm used to hearing how these kinds of bonds permanent when done properly and willingly by both sides. I won't let anyone bind to me if they don't know what they're getting into," said Harry, while he looked off into the distance without really seeing what he looked at towards the end of his rant.

"What are you talking about?" Homura asked as he stopped walking. "Not permanent? Once a Sekirei finds their Ashikabi, or is bound unwillingly by an Ashikabi, that's it. No second chances. It's why I do what I do. If a Sekirei that was forced to bind can get out of it, that's the biggest and best news possible for us."

Harry glanced back at Homura and said, "I know a bit about Soul-Magic. This kind of bond you all create is very similar to another kind I've seen in the past. Those can be undone if you meet someone more compatible and the first was done generally against your will. I haven't seen any reason yet why it couldn't be done here as well."

As Harry turned to continue down the sidewalk, Homura grabbed his arm. "You don't understand. This changes everything for so many of us. There are some Ashikabi who probably have winged ten or more Sekirei, and almost all of them unwillingly. The girls only stay because they believe they have no other options. They all think they'll forever be stuck with the bastards and will never find someone who they will truly be happy with."

Then, it hit Harry, more suddenly then the previous three times he had been hit. It was another Veela-like wave of Allure blasting against his Occlumency shields, making his mind groan under the strain of resisting it. All of it, emanating from Homura.

'_Oh you got to be kidding me,'_ thought Harry incredulously as Musubi suddenly grabbed his arm after she saw he was in distress. '_It's a freakin dude this time._'

However, as Harry thought this, the burst vanished as he saw Homura drop to his knees in pain, hand clutched tightly to his chest. Suddenly Homura gasped for breath, his pleads barely audible between deep gulps of air, "No, please no… not now…" was all Harry could hear Homura whisper through the pain he had suddenly and quite obviously wracked his body.

Despite whatever goofy Sekirei magic was being thrown around this time, Homura needed help and Harry and Musubi were the only ones to offer it. He looked at Musubi, who seemed to be on the verge of panic at seeing Homura injured.

"Come on Musubi, Kagari's hurt. I can fix him up probably when we get to Miya's place, but we got to move," and with that statement Harry picked Homura's surprisingly light body and broke out into a run.

"Stay with me Homura, stay awake, don't you lose consciousness on me."

The two ran another block with Homura before they barged through the closed front gate of the Izumo Inn. The owner, Miya Asama, saw their approach and stared incredulously as the odd group ran onto her property.


	5. Izumo Inn

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Chapter First Published: 2012-03-01

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-28

**Chapter 5 - Izumo Inn**

"Are you Miya?" Harry asked after casting the translation charm upon the blue-haired woman who approached them while he carried Homura to the front door.

"Yes, I'm Miya Asama, what has happened to Kagari," the woman asked with concern in her voice. She only vaguely looked around as the charm hit her. '_She's definitely as powerful as Kara if she could sense the spell hitting her_,' thought Harry.

Harry decided that if it was _the_ Miya, she deserved the whole truth, "Long story, and I think I only understand part of it. Suffice it to say, he started having extremely debilitating chest pains. It started right after I _think_ he recognized that he wanted me as his Ashikabi."

Miya gasped, "You're sure of this, how do you know this?"

Harry wasn't quite ready for twenty questions yet, especially with someone who Karasuba considers having ruined her life, "Can we please just get him to his room and onto a bed. I can attempt to heal him, and if I can't, I can likely get someone here very quickly who can."

Miya looked at him shrewdly, and Harry got the distinct impression that she just now saw him properly for the first time. Her entire focus previously had definitely been upon Homura and not Harry and Musubi. Perhaps she thought he had spouted nonsense before and wasn't worth her time as she focused upon her injured friend. But now Harry definitely had her undivided attention.

"Sure, but I warn you, if you hurt Kagari, it will be the last thing you do," she said with a bit of menace as Harry felt an odd form of Legilimancy pass over. The mind magic manifested itself behind Miya as the sensation made his eyes believe an odd sort of demonic purple mask floated behind Miya, ready to strike him down.

"Whatever, death threats, been there, done that… just show me to the damn room so I can try and help him."

Recognition that the mask only seemed to annoy Harry passed across Miya's face for an instant, and she quickly led the way to Homura's room. Musubi followed immediately behind them, as well as an extremely attractive newcomer who had heard the noise also quickly joined and she looked at Homura with a deep look of concern on her face as well.

The group arrived at Homura's room and Miya motioned them inside. Miya began to ask just what he intended to do, when Harry asked for silence, cast the translation charm on the newest woman, and then simply asked for quiet while he prepared. Harry took out his Beachwood wand and conjured a pen and piece of paper.

He enchanted the pen to be linked to his mind in order to write out the information revealed by the next spell chain he cast. Then Harry began casting diagnostic after diagnostic upon Homura.

Harry had no basis to assume a diagnosis, and no prior information on Homura's background. Miya could've probably provided him this information, but he decided to get as much information as he could on his own before including any second-hand information which could cause him to make invalid assumptions. Harry was casting as wide a net as possible, even running obscure diagnostics for ailments that hadn't afflicted anyone in centuries. Through it all, the pen wrote on and on.

The whole time Harry cast his spells, Miya, Musubi, and the unknown girl watched on in trepidation. They were both worried for Homura and clearly wondered what on earth Harry was doing. He had completely tuned them out and had not paid the slightest bit of attention towards them or the pen that seemed to be alive and wrote gibberish on a piece of paper in front of them. To them, it appeared he insanely waved an odd stick around wildly and muttered nonsense under his breath, which caused Miya to slowly begin to anger.

She was about to say something when a light touch was felt on her arm. Musubi was looking at her with in a determined yet worried face and said, "Trust Harry. He's who I choose to be my Ashikabi as well. He can do things… things I've never seen before. Please let him finish what he's doing."

Miya stared at her a long time, and then finally nodded. The landlady and the two female Sekirei resumed their silent vigil of the two men in the room.

Finally, after about ten minutes, Harry couldn't think of any additional spells to cast and re-holstered his wand. He picked up the paper and began to read. Most of it was useless drivel, though three things eventually stood out to him.

The most incredible revelation revealed by the scans was that Homura was listed as a 'she' in multiple test results. She was surprisingly shown to have a Metamorphmagus talent like his old friend Tonks. The tests ultimately disclosed one last thing that troubled Harry immensely; someone had bound Homura's ability to actively utilize the Metamorph talent..

The binding was about to undergo a catastrophic collapse, which would likely implode her magical core. And since Harry knew Homura was partial to utilizing fire, he could easily imagine a fireball a half-mile wide with a sentient being only partially in control at its epicenter. The inferno created by such an event would easily destroy everything in path before it likely claimed Homura's life.

The results had just barely sunk into his head when Harry found the need to sit down. He leaned back into a chair and after he put the diagnostic sheets down on a small table next to him. The need to slowly rub his eyes overcame him in an attempt to distract his mind from all the dangerous eventual outcomes of the block's failure. What he really needed to do was determine a logical plan of attack to remove the block.

He mentally reviewed the facts he knew plus all the random information Tonks had told him about metamorphs long ago. If Homura was currently a female bound in a male form, that wasn't welcome news. It meant, while the binding was broke down, Homura would slowly revert back to female form at an extremely slow and painful rate. He remembered Tonks explanation that gender changes were the hardest to undergo, and growing certain lower and upper appendages 'in' and 'out' tended to be quite painful.

There was only one conclusion to be reached. That binding needed to be removed immediately.

While Harry continued to ponder the possible choices silently, Miya walked over and picked up the paper. It was written in English, but that didn't appear to faze Miya as she could apparently read it anyways.

"What does Metamorphmagus mean?" she asked Harry softly.

Harry looked up at her and said, "I'll go through it all with you in a few minutes, let me see if I can't at least reduce her pain and get her to sleep. We can talk about her options afterwards."

"Oh, by the way," he added to the three girls, who all looked at him in confusion as he referred to Homura as a 'her', "I'm about to summon a friend who's going to literally pop in right in front of you. Don't attack him please," Harry figured with as serious as Homura's condition was, now wasn't the time to have his usual fun where he would summon in Dobby to people who are unaware of what was about to happen.

"Dobby."

"Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir. You're busy today Harry, what can I do for you."

"No time for explanations, my friend," Harry quickly said. "I need a vial of dreamless sleep and a pain-reducing potion. Maybe a few nutrient potions as well, she's looking kind of underweight to me," he said as he gestured over to Homura for the sake of Dobby's reference. "After you bring those here, hang around. I may need more of your help to undo an ability binding on the woman in the bed over there."

Dobby's eyes widened as he glanced at Homura in agony on the bed. "Yes sir, Harry Potter, Dobbys be right back."

"Harry, what was that?" Musubi asked.

Harry smiled weakly at her, and turned back to stare very tiredly at Homura while saying, "That was a House-Elf, Musubi. Unfortunately, they're a slave-race to wizards around the world. I managed to free him from a very evil man who was abusing him back when I was twelve years old. God, it's been thirteen years since then. I've known Dobby for over half my life. Anyways, since then he's followed me around everywhere. I can't count the number of times the little bugger has saved my life. He's one of the few truly loyal friends I have."

"He's a slave?" Miya said with a bit of anxiety.

Harry looked at her, "Yes and no." Harry sighed. He hated the manner in which he had to carefully explain the history of house elves to each new person that encountered them. It ultimately was worth it though if it could prevent the knee-jerk reaction that Hermione had back in his fourth year of school.

"House-Eves are symbiotic with another person, family, or powerful magical location. They cannot produce magic on their own, thus they must bond with either a person, a family, or sometimes even a location if there's a lot of ambient magic in the air from heavy use. In return for the bond that keeps them alive and sane, House-Elves essentially act as butlers and maids for Wizards. Dobby bonded himself to me without me even knowing when I was twelve years old. It was years before I even found out he had done so. He kept going on and on about wanting to be a free elf. Eventually I learned he meant free from abuse. He has no problem being bound to me. Does that explain?"

"Yes," said Miya with a pained smile. "I apologize, you mention that Dobby is a slave, and Musubi mentions that you will likely be her Ashikabi, and you yourself say that Kagari has given you the impression he wants you as his. You can see my consternation, no?"

Harry nods wearily, "I hate slavery in all forms. If these two, and anyone else for that matter, choose to have me as their Ashikabi, I will treat them with respect, you have my word."

Dobby re-appeared and held the requested vials, "Here, Harry Potter, sir."

"Thank you Dobby," Harry gestured to Miya, "Mrs Miya here likely will be very worried about Miss Homura, can you hang around and ask her later if there's any work or chores that need to be done? I think she would appreciate it. Bring Winky here as well if you want. I know the two of you don't like being apart."

"Thank you, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby turned to Miya, "Dobby will comes back later with his Winky and we's helps with what we is can." And with that, Dobby popped away.

He turned back to Miya, "If you have any chores or other random things around the inn that you would like done, the elves will be glad to do it. They'll get it done a hundred times faster than any of us will be capable of doing it too. I could also bring one of my cooks by, to watch whoever prepares the meals around here. Then they could prepare the food from then on. They only really know European and Latin American dishes at the moment, so they would need to learn traditional Japanese cuisine."

Miya just nodded jerkily. The surprises continued to come left and right to her and she was apparently near the end of her rope. The other girl in the room who he hadn't learned the name of yet simply stood there with her mouth agape.

'_Ok, nasty tasting potion time,_' thought Harry. He really didn't want to subject someone to the foul nastiness of magical potion consumption without a proper explanation of just what exactly they were about to drink, but he didn't seem to have much choice at the moment.

Harry walked over to Homura, and conjured a chair to sit down upon next to the bed. Homura latched onto Harry's free arm and asked, "Can you make it stop?" The desperation in her voice was nothing compared to the fear in her eyes. She had practically curled into a ball while she clutched her chest with the other hand.

"Yes, I know what's happening to you, and I promise you that after we remove it, I'll be right next to you as we hunt down the bastard who did this to you."

"Thank you. How do we fix it?" her voice was shaky, but her eyes told a different story. There now was fire and determination there to see this through.

"First off, you need to rest a bit so your magic settles. I have a potion here that will ease the pain for about a day. It should kick in about five minutes after you take it. I want you to meditate and then eat when you've settled your mind a bit. After you've eaten, you need to take this second potion. It's called 'dreamless sleep'. When you take it, you'll have exactly eight hours of completely uninterrupted sleep. When you wake up later, I can walk you through everything I've learned when I ran my diagnostics. Until then, I need you to relax and not think about any of this. If you know meditation, please do that. It will help settle the pain and slow the damage quicker."

"Just to ease your worries, I'll tell you just a little bit. You have magical abilities. All of you do in fact," Harry said as he looked at all of them in the room who were listening in. "To simplify things greatly, Homura, you specifically have a very rare ability to morph your appearance, you can look like anyone you want when you use this ability. However, someone apparently didn't like this, so they bound this ability, and locked you into form you're currently in."

"Basically, right now, in times of extreme emotional stress, the power of your magic is slowly eroding the binding on your morph ability. Basically, the binding is failing at an incredibly slow rate, and that's why you feel pain. Normally a change like this would be near instantaneous and damn near painless. But you're going through the change at a rate that's so slow its borderline torture. If you can settle your emotions a bit, it'll help stop it and the pain. Your emotions are tied to your magic. The more chaotic they get, the more they'll affect the binding, and cause you pain."

Homura nodded and reached for the first vial. As she was about to drink it, Harry said with a sad humorless smile, "Oh and one more thing, that potion you're about to drink, is one of the foulest tasting things on the planet. I know it sucks, but you have to drink the whole thing."

Homura looked at the potion wearily, and then simply pinched her nose, and downed the potion in one go, "Oh god, that was horrible."

Harry laughed, "You have no idea. I can say 'one of the foulest' accurately because I've had other potions that are even worse than that one. Imagine that you've lost all the bones in an arm, and then you're forced to drink something that tastes worse than that to grow them back. The potion then keeps you awake overnight and makes you feel like you have wooden splinters in your arm the entire time while the bone is grown back," Harry chuckled at Homura's wide-eyes.

"Get some rest, ok? That potion should start reducing the pain in a few minutes."

Homura nodded and closed her eyes. Harry got up, and walked over to the others. "Winky?" he softly called

"Yes Harry Potter?" the female elf said as she appeared.

"Can you watch Miss Homura for us please while we go into another room and talk? I don't know if she was paying attention when Dobby was here earlier, so she may overreact to seeing you. So try and stay out of sight. Come get us if you think she's having a problem, Ok?" Harry said all of this very softly, hoping to not disturb Homura as she went through meditation routine she was obviously well-versed in performing.

"I will Harry. Dobby is here too, waiting for orders from Miss Miya." As he nodded his acknowledgement to his faithful elf, Harry beckoned the rest out the door and shut it as the last person exited.

Harry turned to Miya, "Is there a place we can all sit down so I can go through this all with you?"

"Yes, please follow me," and she led them all into a dining room, where they all sat on the floor

Miya served tea to everyone, and when she had sat down, Harry began to speak, "Well, let me see if I can't provide some answers to all your questions. Please try and not interrupt me, this is a long story, and it's likely your answers will come later on. It isn't my whole life story, but it's a very good abridged version of it."

"First off, I'm Harry Potter. I'm a wizard born in England twenty-six years ago. This is Musubi, Number 88."

Miya spoke up first, "Again, I'm Miya Asama. I own this inn." She looked at the woman to her right on the couch, and after a moment's hesitation said, "This is Uzume. Number 10. She normally doesn't speak up about her being a Sekirei, but I believe it would be advantageous to her if she didn't utilize her normal secrecy."

Uzume playfully glared at Miya. "Like she said, I'm Uzume. My Ashikabi's name is Chiho."

"Do you have an Ashkabi, Miya?" asked Musubi.

Harry stiffened at the question, and he was sure Miya saw it before Harry relaxed. "No child, I'm Sekirei and at the same time I am not. I'm something wholly different. I may be Number 1, but I may as well not be," she finished cryptically.

From there, Harry went on to explain his life as he did with Karasuba earlier that morning. He demonstrated some magic, gave each woman a translation necklace, and explained just what it did so language barriers wouldn't be an issue in the future.

Eventually, Miya spoke up afterwards and re-asked the questions she asked earlier. "Can you explain Harry how you knew Homura wanted you as her Ashikabi, and what you will have to do to help her?"

Harry nodded, "I've met four Sekirei thus far who I believe have wanted me as their Ashikabi. I'm not sure what I can do for the first two yet, as they already were forced into taking an Ashikabi against their will. I have some ideas on how to help them, but I need to do some more research first. That's actually what I was intending on doing this evening after finding some food, but then Musubi here literally fell out of the sky and slammed me into the ground. The third Sekirei to give me that impression is her, and Homura is the fourth."

"The way I can tell is through an Allure, or compulsion you Sekirei seem to be capable of putting out. I'll try and explain it in a manner that's familiar to me. There's a magical race that's prevalent in small enclaves in France, and in Eastern Europe called Veela's. They're the descendants of an avian race who has extreme control of fire. Nowadays, they're incredibly beautiful, almost ethereal looking women. One of the things they can do is enthrall men with a compulsion that acts upon a man's lust. Basically it'll turn them into mindless drooling idiots. I'm immune to it, so far as I can block it out using some magically based mind defenses that stop attacks from reaching me."

"That's how I can tell when a Sekirei has chosen me as a potential Ashikabi. Musubi blasted me with a huge Allure that almost put me down on my knees in pain. It hit my mental walls and hurt that badly to resist it. The compulsion was attempting to make me do one thing, kiss her. Homura did the same thing before her own pain got so bad she collapsed."

The women in the room seemed shocked at this revelation, and it was Miya that finally spoke. "I've never heard of this sort of thing occurring before with Sekirei, but you've said it's happened four times to you so far? Who were the other two that were already bonded that wished for you as their Ashikabi?"

Harry felt like he would be betraying Karasuba to her enemy if he revealed her name, plus it wasn't safe for him to reveal this as long as she was a member of the Discipline Squad and working directly for MBI.

"I'm sorry Miya, but I can't reveal that yet. It would potentially endanger both women if it were revealed they might have a method of re-winging themselves to me rather than their current Ashikabi. I'll help them later, when I can ensure their safety."

Before Miya could inquire further, Uzume interrupted and asked, "You believe it's possible for a Sekirei to change their Ashikabi?"

Harry looked closer at Uzume for the first time since sitting down. She was a very attractive brunette who currently donned a simple blue a T-shirt with a pink star and a pair of Capri-style jeans. It was incredibly obvious she was wearing no bra, and her chest was giving Musubi's competition in terms of sheer ridiculousness in size. She seemed someone who would normally be the first to laugh in the room, yet the question she just asked was weighing quite heavily upon her mind.

"Unfortunately it's not as simple as that. I think the bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi is comparable to Soul-Bond in the magical world, and is also very similar to a mating bond that Veela have once they find their life-mate."

"Soul-bonds, once they are properly consummated and established between people who truly love and hold affection for one another, are permanent and cannot under any circumstance be removed. The advantages of a soul-bond include longer life and increased health, sharing their magic, and even sharing some abilities. Basically, it makes both members of the bond stronger. The unfortunate part of a soul-bond is that, when one member of the bond dies, the other one dies within minutes."

"I believe the two Sekirei's I spoke to earlier will likely be able to re-wing with me if they choose to do so because they have incredibly weak bonds to their Ashikabi. Both were bonded against their will, and neither one has ever been or has any desire to be intimate with their Ashikabi. I think rewinging will only work in situations like this, if it works at all. A Sekirei who truly loves their Ashikabi, who has established a strong and healthy bond, will not be able to re-wing to someone else if they tried. Does that make sense to all of you?"

The girl closed her eyes and seemed to be trying to hold back tears. Miya reached over and embraced the girl, who began to sob. Harry looked at Musubi, who looked confused at what had just transpired.

"Come on Musubi," Harry whispered to her, "Let's give Uzume some privacy and go outside for a bit. You and I need to talk anyways."

-o0o0o-

Outside it was almost dusk. The sky was lit with an almost unearthly orange hue and the clouds present were magnificent in color. As he stood outside the inn with Musubi, after the day that they just had, the potential peacefulness of this Inn and the wonderful sunset was quite welcome.

Harry knew what Musubi wanted to discuss, and it wasn't an unwelcome topic. The thing both surprised and troubled him at the moment was not the idea of him creating a potential bond with Musubi and the other women, but that the act itself didn't bother him.

Just like Harry, they were all fighters, all students of disciplines of the mind and body. Each of them was being forced to participate in events that deep down, none of them likely wanted anything to do with.

Harry doubted he could've found more kindred souls anywhere else in the world.

'_Gryffindors charge forward,_' Harry mentally chanted the old mantra to fight his present-day cynical instincts, before he turned to Musubi. He reached out and held onto both of her hands with his. Her hands were soft, surprising to him when he considered that hand-to-hand combat was her specialty. He looked into her brown eyes. They were so innocent, so wide-eyed and joyful at such simple things he had shown her so far. And she had such a big heart that he could genuinely see himself fall for her in time, just like any of the other girls he had met so far.

After he took a deep breath, he began, "Do you know what you're getting into, by asking me to be your Ashikabi? Danger won't stop with the end of this Sekirei plan even if we get through it. Adventure always seems to be following me, but death and grief are right behind it. And by virtue of you being with me, they will follow you as well."

"Is this something you can live with, Musubi? Can you be there for me through all the terrible things I know we'll encounter, just like I'll be there for you?"

She looked at him with a small, understanding smile, and simply said, "I will follow you down whatever road you travel, Harry."

Silence reigned, as each wondered if the other would ask the question to bind them together.

Finally, Harry decided it was time to commit himself for once in his life. He was really only responsible for his godson Teddy, and even then, he had barely been able to participate in Teddy's life after being exiled from England.

This would be different. This would be something he could commit to with every fiber of his being. It simply felt right.

"Musubi," Harry said as he looked right into her eyes and tried to remember the love he had for his parents, Sirius, and Remus when he had viewed them through the resurrection stone all those years ago. "Would you honor me by being my Sekirei?"

For her answer, she leaned forward slowly and closed her now misted eyes and kissed Harry. Their mouths met, and the instant their lips parted, an explosion of magic seemed to erupt from Musubi.

If Harry had opened his eyes, he would have seen enormous ethereal wings spring from the back of Musubi, and a bright luminescence expand outwards from both of them.

Also, if Harry had looked around after he had opened his eyes, he would have seen six pairs of eyes from the inn, who all stared at the two of them in awe at the sheer amount of magic being released.

One set that had just gotten up from bed for some inexplicable reason. She smiled and wondered if that's what her winging with Harry would be like, and for the first time in her life, held no fear in her heart of being winged.

One set remembered a husband that had passed on, that had never been able to wing her like all of her sisters were capable.

One set openly cried because of her own despair and grief as she remembered her own winging, and prayed that her own Ashikabi could somehow recover someday from her illness that threatened her life.

The last set of Sekirei eyes that watched the events did so from a dark hidden room in the Inn. She watched what she could her while security cameras went on the fritz, and wondered if someday she too would find someone worthy to make her Ashikabi.

The final two sets were long-time friends, happy that their master had finally found someone to share his life with, and prayed the threads of loose bonds they had encountered in the air throughout this day would join with their master as well.

But Harry and Musubi were oblivious to all of this, so lost in the wonder of the magic they shared with each other. There was so much magic transferred between Musubi and him that Harry honestly had no idea where Musubi began and he ended.

He also vaguely in his half incoherent state began to wonder if he had been wrong earlier. Other Sekirei's may have partial, one-way bonds with their Ashikabi's, but Harry knew in his heart, what he had with Musubi was a true soul bond. For better or worse, Musubi's and his very souls were now linked for all time.

And Harry was just fine with that.

-o0o0o-

Musubi and Harry eventually came back inside the inn, and were greeted by Dobby and Winky as they grinned broadly with more excitement then Harry thought he ever had seen the overexcited elves demonstrate.

"We's so pleased that Master Harry and Mistress Moosibees have bonded."

Musubi didn't understand the significance of this, and looked at Harry.

He leaned over, and kissed her again, which instantly conjured the angelic wings again, "In their eyes, and in the eyes of magic itself, we are married now. You are now as much their master as I am. All I ask is that you please treat them as family."

Musubi eyes lit up before she grabbed Harry in a rib-cracking hug.

They heard clapping start, and they broke apart to see Miya, Uzume, and Homura stood there, all with smiles on their faces. Miya spoke up, "Harry, Musubi… I've never seen a Sekirei acquire their wings in quite so spectacular a fashion. Congratulations."

"Yeah, congratulations, Harry…. And you too, Musubi Potter!" screamed Uzume as she ran up and hugged Musubi.

Homura walked up and slowly tried to keep steady. Harry interrupted her before she could start, "You should still be in bed. I know you wanted to come down, but what's happening to you is very serious. I can help you, but only if you help me by taking care of yourself."

Homura nodded at him, and looked at Musubi and said, "Congratulations, I'm glad you were able to find him."

Musubi, still high on excitement ran to Homura and hugged her, while she said, "It was great Kagari. I hope yours is as amazing as mine was."

"Ahem", Harry cleared his throat in spite of his high amusement at Musubi's antics. He looked at Homura, "Come on, since you refuse to sit and relax, you and I need to go upstairs and talk."

They slowly made their way back to Homura's room. Harry tried to not to be a mother hen to her, but ended up a miserable failure. Eventually they made it to her room, and got her settled back in her bed.

"Have you eaten yet? Harry asked.

"No, I was trying to rest here when I felt… something. I looked out the window and saw you and Musubi outside. I had never seen anything like that before." Homura shook his head in disbelief and said, "I've seen a lot of Sekirei's and Ashikabi's come together, both willingly and unwillingly. No other Sekirei gaining wings has gained as much power as Musubi did just now."

Harry tried to think of a reason why, but could only think of one thing, "I think that more than likely the soul-bond forged between the two of us grants her some of my power."

"Soul-bond?" asked Homura, clearly confused.

Harry shook his head, and holding up his hand, "Let me start from the beginning, this will take a bit, but it'll help you understand a bit more about me and what's going on. But first things first. Winky?"

The quiet female elf appeared in a much more unassuming fashion then her exuberant partner usually did. "Yes, Master Harry, Sir?"

"Homura needs something light to eat. Is there anything in particular you want to eat Homura?"

"Some noodles would be fine, thank you."

"Winky, while you arrange for the food, can you mention to the cooks that they may want to brush up on their traditional Japanese cuisine? I have a feeling they may be making less and less European style meals in the future and more food from this country."

The elf left to carry out her orders, and Harry proceeded to run through his life story for the third time that day, though this time he recounted everything of note up to this morning. "Now, some things happened today, before I happened upon Musubi, the Doofus twins, and you."

"I'm not really quite ready to talk about that, mainly because it's simply not my story to tell in its entirety. I will say that it's very likely there are two already winged Sekirei out there that will likely be bonding to me. I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon with them before I met you."

Homura was shocked by this, simply blurting out, "This is what you were talking about earlier. But how can an already winged Sekirei join you? We've always been told we'll die if we leave our Ashikabi."

"While I don't discount that theory at a very high level, I think there's a bit more to it than that. Suffice it to say, both of these Sekirei were winged against their will, and there is no love in that relationship. And I don't believe there is any potential for future love in their relationship either."

"You all seem to be created with the idea of finding love and bonding to someone powerful. I think whatever bond is between these particular two Sekirei and their Ashikabi is so weak, they haven't gained anything at all from the relationship. I'm not even convinced either would die if the Ashikabi died in their particular case. They are clearly not bonded anywhere near the level Musubi and I are."

"I know it's a crazy concept to grasp, but bonds between magical beings are most intense when the intent to form them is willing from both parties and there is a powerful emotion behind it. I don't know how to explain it, and I know I'm probably doing a very poor job attempting it right now. I just know I'm right. I think any Sekirei that was forcibly bonded could break that bond and re-wing to their true Ashikabi if given the chance and choice."

Homura seemed stunned into silence, but then slowly her lips curled into a smile, "That makes me feel a lot better actually if it can be proven true. So many Sekirei have been forcibly taken and winged by people who have mistreated and misused them. This will make a lot of Sekirei happy if it could be done. And it makes me feel like less of a failure to all those Sekirei I couldn't save. They may still have a chance now."

"Hopefully we can. And I'll gladly help you to help them. Now, we need to talk about the results of all the stuff I ran on you when we first arrived. There are a few things you need to know, and none of it is all that pleasant. There's a light at the end of the tunnel though, if you're willing to endure and see your way through to it."

"I'll probably be repeating a bit of what I said earlier, but its best you hear everything so it fully sinks in. First things first, you're a Metamorphmagus. They are very rare amongst wizards. The ratio of normal humans to wizards is like one in one thousand. The ratio of wizards to Metamorphmagus' is like, one in ten thousand. It's a very rare ability and most wizards go there whole lives without even knowing the ability exists, let alone meeting one. I've had the honor of knowing one for three years before she was killed during the war I told you about. Her son is my godson."

Harry grew quiet at this point in remembrance and seemed to focus on something far away. He usually hated it when this happens, when he got lost in thought and memories. Homura realized what he was doing and simply reached over and grabbed his hand with hers, squeezing gently. At the touch, Harry refocused his eyes on Homura, nodding his thanks.

"Anyways, sorry for the tangent. Basically it means that if someone hadn't screwed around with your magic, you would have the ability to mimic essentially anyone's appearance that you've ever seen, whenever you want."

"It doesn't matter who it is, how young, how old, or… or which gender."

Homura briefly gasped at this, like a sudden piece of a puzzle hidden from her throughout her life suddenly fell into place.

"That leads me leads to the second revelation I mentioned. Someone locked you into this form and bound you to it. It means the form you're currently in, isn't actually natural for you. And here's the whopper of all of them. You are not a natural male. You are, in fact, a female."

Homura's eyes widened and Harry could easily see the tears as they began to form. Harry got up from the chair he had sat in beside the bed, and laid down on it, taking the distraught morpher into his arms.

"Someone bound you into the form you're in now, and to top it off, whoever did this to you quite frankly did a piss-poor job doing it. Your bindings are breaking, albeit very, very slowly. The problem is, as the bindings loosen, your form is slowly, and painfully trying to force itself back to what it should naturally be."

"It can't do it all the way though, so it's stuck in this perpetual state of '_sort of'_ changing, which is very stressful on your body and causing you all this pain. The amount of pain you felt today was because of how you reacted to me, as a possible Ashikabi. I think a bit of your magic slammed into the binding, and broke a bit more of the block on you at the same time, because you all that pain."

"So, here's the deal. I know how to remove the binding. Unfortunately, you can't be asleep during the ritual that will break it. I won't lie to you. It will likely hurt more than anything you've ever experienced in your whole life. But, once they're off, you'll immediately revert back to being in your natural form, thought I think I understand if you don't view that as necessarily a good thing for now," Harry's attempt at a joke hit home, and one side of Homura's mouth turned upwards for a brief moment before it returned to a hard straight line.

"On the plus side however, you won't be in pain anymore once it's done, and then you can learn how to switch back to you male form if you prefer being male to being female."

"I know it's a lot to throw at you, but I would like to remove the bindings tomorrow. Also, I believe I'm your Ashikabi, but I don't know how winging you with the binding active will affect you, so I'd like to at least wait till you're unbound before the two of us ponder whether to proceed with winging you. I want to make sure you're free to do whatever you want or need, ok?"

Homura nodded was silent for a bit. She would occasionally look out the window and back up at Harry, trying to put words to something. Harry simply waited, knowing from the experiences of Karasuba and Haihane earlier today, that the lives of Sekirei's could be extremely tough, and it looked like Homura's was no different.

"They did this to me at the MBI labs. I don't know how they did it, but that's where it happened. They ran test after test, made me down medications by the fistful sometimes. Nothing changed, the pain was always there."

"They even told me I would never find an Ashikabi, and there was the distinct chance I would become a discarded number."

Homura saw Harry's confusion at this statement, and explained, "It's what happens when they over-medicate a Sekirei. The Sekirei is 'retired,' forcefully sometimes. There's only one I know that's managed to escape after being declared scrapped, a woman named Akitsu. Her abilities were far too powerful and they tried to rein them in. They nearly destroyed her mind while doing so. She can't be given wings, so she'll never be with an Ashikabi. I've seen her occasionally since she escaped. I protected her a few times when she got in trouble. I have no idea where she is now though. I doubt she knows who I am either."

"You giving me a chance to get wing's is more than I ever could've hoped for. I used to work as a male escort, I've dated hundreds of women while trying to find an Ashikabi. Obviously I had no luck. Then you show up and within thirty minutes I knew you're the one."

"If you'll have me, I'll gladly become one of your Sekirei."

Harry nodded, "Then I gladly accept. But not until those bindings are off of you. It can be dangerous creating a magical bond between two people if one of their cores is blocked or bound. It can kill you, understand? I'll stay up tonight, and get the ritual prepared to accomplish everything as soon as you wake up."

"In the meantime, I'm giving you a necklace. It casts a translation charm on you that will allow anyone who you hear speaking to appear to be speaking in whatever your native language is. I'm speaking English at the moment, but I bet it sounds like Japanese, right?

All that greeted Harry statement was wide-eyes and a slow nod, Harry continued, "It also has my family crest upon it. In the magical world, it signifies you are now under my protection. I've given one to everyone in the Inn I've met so far, even Miya and Uzume. What this means for you, is that you can call my house-elfs now to aid you if you need it. Dobby?"

Dobby appeared once again and squeaked, "Harry Potter sir, you's shouldnts be disturbing Miss Hom-rah. She needs rests, go now."

Homura had to blink and actually pinched herself while just staring at the tiny little being that waved a finger disapprovingly at Harry. Then a small smirk appeared on her face, "Someone's in trouble."

Harry simply rolled his eyes, "They can be a bit exuberant on occasion, but they're some of the best and most loyal friends you'll ever have. Drink that potion there and then I'll see you in eight hours."

-o0o0o-

Harry spent the next few hours in his newly appointed room in the inn. Dobby made a dozen trips back and forth between the combined Potter-Black Library that was in Switzerland, all in support of Harry as he scoured book after book for the correct ritual to match the diagnostics he ran earlier. Eventually he found the correct circle and spent another two hours in an empty room set aside by Miya in order to transfer the runic diagrams to the floor that would remove the Metamorph block on Homura.

It was very late when he finally returned to his room that Miya had assigned him. As he walked in, he wasn't surprised to see Musubi there on the bed already asleep. What he was surprised to see was her snoring softly, completely naked without a blanket covering her.

'One thing at a time Harry,' repeated to himself as he tried to focus on what he still wanted to accomplish,. He desperate attempted to avoid all glances at the insanely hot girl he had essentially married today.

'_What a crap wedding night I'm giving her,_' Harry suddenly realized, and resolved to make sure Musubi was ok after he was done writing his letter.

He sat down at the desk in the corner of the room, and began a letter to Karasuba that let her know what had transpired after he left MBI Tower today.

_Kara,_

_Dobby has been instructed to give this to you when you're alone. Only you and Haihane will be able to read it, but it's up to you whether you decide to share this with her for now. You won't believe the day I had after I left MBI. I was out getting some food, and was going to spend the rest of the night researching forms of magical bonds for you and Haihane, when a Sekirei literally fell out of the sky and landed on me. Some idiot lightning chicks were trying to eliminate her while she was still un-winged. _

_I saved the girl (Number 88 – Musubi) from them, and also met Number 6, Homura. Both have reacted to me. Musubi was a no-brainer to Wing and I did so this afternoon at her request. She seems very nice, a bit innocent still to the world, but I sometimes think that's still a good thing. The whole idea of making it as far into life as she has been able to without having her spirit crushed or see the truly terrible things people can do. I certainly know my innocence and faith in the world was shattered a long time ago. I almost envy her. In fact, I know I do._

_Homura is a different story. I have no idea what these so called 'scientists' do at MBI, but I want the head of whatever bastard was in charge of 'adjusting' Homura on a pike. The things they did to her are absolutely disgusting. In the magical world, the crimes I've found committed against her would be punishable by the Dementor's Kiss. What that means is the foulest, most loathsome creature in the world you can imagine (they were the source of the Grim Reaper mythos for Non-Magicals) would be used to suck their soul out through their mouth. This isn't just a simple execution. Their soul would literally be devoured and destroyed. _

_Tomorrow, I'll be putting Homura through a ritual here at the place we're staying to break the bindings on her. _

_And that's the other thing I really wanted to tell you. The three of us are staying at Miya's Inn. She's been pleasant so far, but I'm well aware of what she did to you in the past, so I haven't mentioned you or Haihane yet by name._

_If she ends up being a problem for you, we'll leave. I've already set in motion buying some property here in Tokyo that I plan on placing under every conceivable protection known to Wizard, Goblin, and Elf. No one will be able to find us hiding there, not even via satellite or Non-Magical electronic tracking devices. _

_Sorry to dump all this on you, but I really felt you should know. Knowledge is power, and I've gone through my life with too many people withholding information from me that I had a right to know, and I won't do the same to you. _

_Well, it's late, and it's going to be a rough day running that ritual for Homura in the morning. Say hello to Haihane for me._

_Thinking of you…_

_HP_

Harry finished up his letter, and placed a charm on it so that only Karasuba and Haihane would be able to read it. After the letter was sent via Dobby, Harry stripped down to his boxers walked over to the bed, where he looked down upon the occupant that slowly slept unaware of his presence.

She lay there on her back completely nude and still snored away, oblivious to his proximity to her. It was dark enough in the room to not make out distinct details of her body, but from what he could tell she definitely had one of the most amazing figures he had ever been in the presence of.

In fact, all of the women he had encountered today were stunningly beautiful. He hadn't had time yet to wrap his mind around the fact that he had basically done the magical equivalent of eloping today, as well as just left the room of someone who he would likely do the same with tomorrow, and that he had just written a letter to what was likely to be his third wife who would pass on a '_hello_' to a fourth.

A phrase from his youth repeated in Harry's mind, something that seemed highly applicable at the moment, '_Harry Potter does not do normal._'

He shook the thoughts from his head and lay down next to her. A quick conjured blanket was draped over the two of them as he settled down next to her. She shifted in her sleep and quickly buried her face in his neck and snaked one leg possessively around him. He wrapped his arms around her back and was surprised at the position which his arm brushed against her right breast pressed up against his chest. He stilled in case she woke from the intimate contact. However, she didn't wake, and only once did she let out a sigh of contentment as Harry settled into sleep next to her.

-o0o0o-

The next morning, Harry woke up suddenly as Uzume stood over him and Musubi with a lecherous grin plastered on her face. She smiled quite evilly and said, "Am I interrupting something?"

Harry wondered what the heck she was on about, only to look down and see that the blanket he'd conjured no longer covered him and Musubi, and she had her hand down his boxers, his manhood quite firmly grasped in her hand.

He was momentarily taken aback by the revelation and Uzume's apparent glee at her findings, before he decided to turn the tables on her, "Yes Uzume, I believe you just may have been. Why, do you wish to join in?"

He purposefully dropped his gaze to Uzume's chest, and did a salacious once-over of her whole body while he sported a patented Potter half-grin. Her face went bright red and she immediately began to stutter incoherently. She quickly decided the only safe option was retreat and ran from the room as fast as she could, and only stopped to shut the door behind her as she flew through the threshold.

Vastly amused by Uzume's antics, he gently shook Musubi's shoulder while he whispered, "Musubi, time to get up."

She shifted, her grip on him strengthening suddenly and caused Harry's eyes to nearly bug out of his head, '_Crap, these girls could do serious damage while sleeping._'

"Come on Number 88, time to move," Musubi's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Harry. She smiled when their eyes connected, but then her eyebrows creased as if in thought. She lifted her body up slightly, looking down to see what her hand had managed to grip onto. Harry watched as she gasped, and pulled her hand out of his pants as if scalded.

"Awe, you're going to make me think you don't like me now," Harry said while doing a poor job of pouting.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…" but her apologies were silenced as Harry raised himself up and kissed her, releasing her wings and gaining the reward of hearing her moan into his mouth. He threw a _Colloportus_ vaguely in the direction of the door and Harry was rewarded with the characteristic squelching sound as the door magically locked and sealed itself shut. They snogged for a few minutes and Musubi slowly slid onto him until she had straddled him. It was a chore to not let his hands wander greedily over the body of the literal angel grinding her pelvis into his. The massive chest that softly rubbed against his had not helped matters either.

Eventually they broke apart and simply stared into each other's eyes. She was an absolute vision of beauty to Harry, and he knew he had made the right choice when he pursued this the previous day. He embraced her, and said, "Thank you for choosing me."

Her radiant smile was the only response besides holding him even more tightly in her arms.

Eventually though, they heard a knock on the door.

"Come on children, it's time to get up for breakfast. Open this door immediately." It was Miya, and the last part was said quickly with a definite hint of demand attached. Harry assumed that she likely wasn't used to locked doors in her 'free' inn. Musubi looked panicked, but Harry simply held his arm up, and winked at her.

A freshening charm on each made them appear to each have showered and another flung at the clothes strewn across the room made them smell like they had just been laundered. A volley of rapid fire switching spells instantly put the clothes on their bodies, and some quick transfiguration made it look like the clothes they wore were different from yesterday's apparel. Harry could care less if he had bed-head, but another quick wave of his hand gave Musubi's hair the appearance she had already labored at least forty-five minutes on it this morning.

Not ten seconds after her demand, Harry had walked over to the door and opened it to see a surprised Miya and a shocked Uzume. Miya obviously hadn't expected them to be dressed as Uzume appeared to have ratted their sleeping arrangements out.

"Something I can help you with, Miya?" Harry said with a slight smirk and twinkle in his eye. He sometimes thought that the only truly useful thing he had he had gotten from Dumbledore was the inspiration to research how to cast that eye-twinkle spell that infuriated everyone who dealt with the old man.

She merely blinked in response, which caused Harry to howl with laughter internally. Miya probably wasn't one to get flustered often if what Karasuba told him was anywhere near accurate, and Kara would probably laugh at this story. "Just making sure you both were awake. See you downstairs."

"Musubi will probably join you down there in a bit. I'm going to recheck the ritual runes I setup last night first, and then check on Homura. I'll be down after that."

Uzume followed Miya, and Harry gave her an over-the-top wink as she passed, which caused a bright red blush to erupt on her cheeks again. He realized he would need to be careful around her, because he couldn't imagine himself winning games of flirtation often with her.

Once they were out of sight, he started to quietly laugh. His mirth continued as he proceeded to the room in the far corner of the inn that had been set aside by Miya the previous day. Everything appeared to still be where it was left the night before, and ambient magic from being around so many Sekirei had already begun to charge the circle up like he had hoped. He had hoped this would happen, since it otherwise would require him to empower the circle on his own, and stuff like that always gave Harry a massive headache afterwards and required a day or so to recover.

A quick stop by Homura's room revealed the fiery Guardian Sekirei still slept peacefully. Harry checked his watch, and found the eight hour potion should expire any minute, so he decided to stick around and wait.

After he conjured a new chair to sit in next to the bed, he decided to summon Dobby to get caught up with current events.

"Dobby!"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir?"

"How are things?"

"Everythings be fine, Harry."

"Did you have any problems last night getting Karasuba alone?"

"No sir, Miss Carsubas was on solo patrol in city last night."

"Did she have anything to say?"

"She said shes would write Harry Potter when shes had a chance, but that they were expecting trouble last night and had to pay attention to her duties. She also said the new sword is very fun."

"Yes, I'm sure she's having a stabbingly good time with it. I wonder if she named it. I always wanted to name the Sword of Gryffindor 'Mr. Pointy', but Hermione for some reason never appreciated my humor. Is there any news from the Goblins?"

"Property was purchased this morning, and warders will begin this afternoon. They estimate tomorrow or day after before it's up to Harry Potters standards."

"How big a place did they find?"

"Dobby believes it be twenty rooms, and with space expansion done by Master Harry it could go as high as sixty or seventy. And it has space for everything else Master Harry asked for."

"Awesome, this'll turn out great. I just got to sell Miya on the idea. I hope she agrees."

"When will Miss Carsubas and Miss Hinies be arriving here?"

"Not sure yet, they're in a difficult spot. I think they'll leave the Discipline Squad and MBI regardless if they can be re-winged to me or not. But we have to make sure it's safe for them to leave first. The moment they leave and that Minaka guy finds out, their lives will be in danger. Granted, Kara can take care of herself pretty much against anyone besides me and maybe Miya, so I'm not worried about her. I'm more worried about Haihane."

"The more you say, the more I start thinking you weren't expecting me to be awake yet," said a voice suddenly.

Harry looked up in shock, and saw that Homura had turned on her side and now gazed at him with half a smile on her face, "Shit."

Harry whipped out his wand, "How about we play a game? It's called the Obliviate game."

"Obliviate? That's when you erase someone's memory, right?" Harry simply nodded at this, which caused Homura's eyes to widen in fear.

"You're really going to take my memories away?" She looked half a step away from hyperventilating, so Harry decided to cut this off from the start.

"Nope, just trying to impress upon you how important it is no one knows that not only Karasuba and Haihane want me to be their Ashikabi, but they both are going to quit the Discipline Squad the second we figure out how to rewing them. No one can know, especially Miya. Not yet at least."

"I guess I can live with that. Just make sure I'm a few miles away when those two go into the same room with each other."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea. Their fights and arguments are the things of legend amongst single digits who have been active long enough to have heard about them.

"It shouldn't be for too much longer. Hopefully it won't be much beyond the next one or two days. I believe I have a solution to everyone's problem with the Sekirei Plan."

"What are you…-"

"Nuh uh uh," Harry said, twitching a single finger at her mischievously. "No more questions, breakfast time. See you later Dobby. Let me know if anything comes up."

"Yes sir Harry Potter sir," and with that, the Elf popped away.

Harry helped Homura out of bed and threw some freshening charms at the grateful Sekirei. They joined the rest of the house at breakfast. It was a quiet meal for the group. None of the girls understood the ritual that would take place and that had them all worried. Finally, Harry decided to allay some fears and get them involved in the ritual as well.

"Ok, since no one can seem to ignore the big pink elephant in the room, I might as well go over what's going to happen now and save everyone some trouble. Miya graciously set aside a room that I've prepared for the purpose of removing Homura's binding. Homura, you will need to wear all cotton clothing. No metal, nothing synthetic. It's acceptable to go nude, but that's your choice, cotton clothing is fine. Some runes on the floor will be charged up with my magic. Then, I will get one final acknowledgement from Homura, and then kick the ritual off."

"The reason I'm making sure to explain this to you all, is I would like all of you to be involved in the ritual as well. I'll be feeding my own magic, and directing its use, but the ritual can be strengthened if individuals with a relationship of some kind participate as well. Miya, you're almost like a mother to everyone here, in the way you protect and guide everyone. Uzume, you are good friends with Homura, and Musubi already has very strong sisterly feelings towards her. Normally it we would four people plus myself, but three should be fine. You will all act as anchors for Homura, to ensure her magic is not harmed as mine is used to break down all the bindings affecting her. You are in no danger, and your purpose just makes sure that Homura comes through this as strongly as she possibly can."

"Could I ask you all to participate?"

The three women all looked at each other and nodded, and Miya was the one who spoke up, "I think we all agree to help, but I think we can provide you your missing anchor for this."

Miya reached for a rubber duck on the table and spoke to the duck, "Oh Matsu, I know you're listening. Either you pay your electric bill for the month or you will join us down here… now." Harry was quite proud of his Occlumency skills and the ability to not react to another name from the first generation Discipline Squad Karasuba had mentioned yesterday.

A thump and a crash could be heard from upstairs. Quick footsteps were followed ten seconds later with the arrival of an almost nerdy red-haired woman with glasses. Except nerdy-looking women don't usually look like they could stand up from whatever scientific interest they have and then casually walk down a runway in Paris. '_She's certainly another on who is drop-dead gorgeous, that's for sure,_' thought Harry to himself.

She wore a white form fitting dress, with cut outs showing some cleavage. Her blood red hair was tied in a long plait down her back. Occasionally, her head would tilt and her glasses would catch the light at an odd angle and go opaque, giving the girl an almost sinister look.

"There's no need to threaten Miya, I'll gladly help, I just wasn't sure if it would be wise to expose you to needless danger if word of me being here got out."

Musubi's curiosity at Matsu's statement was readily apparent, and Harry quickly realized that Matsu's wanted status by MBI wasn't something to get into at the moment. Harry quickly cut in before Musubi could roll with her train of thought, "Great that makes five of us. I'm Harry, by the way," Harry said happily in an attempt to avoid his natural desire to stare and undress the attractive large-chested woman before him with his eyes.

'_I wonder if Sekirei are that way naturally or they adjust something specifically to help make them this way_,' Harry thought to himself. Then he laughed internally, '_If that's the case, than Benitsubasa's adjustor must've really hated her_.'

"Hi, I'm Matsu," the red-head sat down next to Uzume. All the girls were smiled at the energy coming off of Matsu. Harry mused that it was quite similar to Musubi's natural happiness, with the only difference being that Harry felt Matsu was a bit more Slytherin-like to Musubi's natural Hufflepuff tendencies. In fact he was getting the distinct impression Matsu now stared at him like he was some side of beef. He would have flirted back, but the potential for Miya's deathly glare was enough to banish that thought from his mind.

He also noted that Uzume's happiness and smile had seemed rather forced this morning. There was definitely something wrong there, and Harry made a note to subtly inquire later about it. He turned his thoughts back to the ritual and decided that some last minute warnings were needed.

"I want to warn you again, Homura, this will be pain unlike pretty much anything you've ever experienced in your life. I had to have this done to me nine times. One of the sessions was to remove a core binding that was originally intended to be used on Chimeara's. They're highly dangerous magical beasts that take dozens of Wizards to subdue. That particular one took five minutes to remove from me. It is possible to be driven insane from pain curses in the magical world, and I honestly thought halfway through that particular ritual that my mind wasn't going to make it. Your ritual won't be anywhere near that, but it may still take upwards of 30 to 45 seconds to complete."

"And now I need to warn all of you," Harry said as he looked at each girl in turn. "Once the ritual starts, you cannot move from your place. The magical backlash from moving could injure you greatly, and can potentially kill Homura. Do you all understand this? You will likely witness Homura screaming in absolute agony in front of you while the binding is removed. She's a metamorph, you will see the binding holding her to this form break as well. She will revert to whatever her true form is right in front of your eyes. With all of these things combined, can I trust you all to not move once this starts until the ritual completes?"

Four heads nodded, and one head resolutely looked forward, the fire in her eyes told Harry without question that she was ready for this.

"In that case, let's do this."

-o0o0o-

The group of six entered the room Harry had prepared for the ritual. Miya was having trouble believing this room was still in her inn. Harry had expanded its size every direction so that the original five meter by five meter room was now ten meters in each direction from the center. Intricate runes covered the floor, with distinct points that all coalesced and lead towards the center of what could be considered an impressive work of art were it not designed to remove something so foul from another being.

Homura wore simple cotton sweat pants and loose white t-shirt. Everyone else had donned a white kimono-like robe made of Egyptian cotton provided by Dobby. Harry directed Homura where to walk as she made her way into the center of the circle. She lay down on her back as she was instructed and her jaw set and eyes stared at the ceiling.

The other women were all placed in their assigned positions and reminded to not step anywhere until the ritual had concluded. Each of them was visibly nervous, but looked just as resolute as Homura. They all wanted to see her healthy and safe.

Finally Harry reached his appointed position and spoke, "You all have one candle in front of you. Use the candle to concentrate, first to clear your mind by thinking only of the candle and its flame, and then think of Homura. Be it your sisterly love for her, your concern for her safety, your wish to see her healthy and strong going forward into the future. Let those feelings envelope you during this ritual. The stronger those emotions are, the more powerful your role of an anchor in the ritual becomes."

"Ok, last chance. The moment I pour magic in to seal the circle, the ritual must be completed. Anyone who does not want to participate please speak now."

No one moved. None present would abandon their friend.

"Good. Directly in front of each of you is a rune with a double-circle around it. On the count of three, I would like each of you to reach down and place your hand in that circle. This will begin the ritual. One… Two… Three…"

Each Sekirei placed their hand on their respective circle at the same time, and the entire runic array in front of each suddenly lit up. So did many other runes around the room that they previously had not been able to see. The only part of the cluster that remained unlit was that in front of Harry and the inner area around Homura herself.

"Ok Homura. I'm going to kick this off. Concentrate on your breathing for as long as you can. The pain _will_ eventually end, and we'll all be right here for you when it does."

"Beginning…. Now!" and Harry placed his palm on the intricate circular array directly in front of him. The unlit section in front of Harry powered up and inner circle around Homura finally brightened to near blinding levels.

Harry saw the exact moment the pain hit Homura. Her eyes widened momentarily before they squeezed shut. She involuntarily lifted her head up and slammed it backwards into the floor. Tears already streamed from her eyes as her fingernails tried clawing the floor beneath them. Her body tried valiantly to curl up into a fetal position but the energies that coursed through her from the circle would not allow it.

She held out for ten seconds before the screams began.

This was not the fake screams from a horror film, or wails of localized pain that might come from something simple as a violent compound fracture of an arm. These were the screams of absolute mind-encompassing agony. Harry could easily see the magic behind the ritual working, since Homura's form had already shifted slightly, though not by much. It seemed her true form was not all that different from her male form. Slight changes her cheekbones were clearly visible. The largest change was her chest and hips becoming larger and wider respectively.

Twenty-five seconds after Harry placed his hand on the circle, Harry felt the ritual end. He immediately dropped to his knees and broke the connections from himself and the four girls to Homura. This immediately caused the still lit runic circle to no longer glow like a Christmas tree.

Harry rushed forward and checked Homura with a few quick charms. "It's done. Let's get her into a bed."

Harry waved a hand and Homura began to float in the air. He strode quickly out the room and the half-unconscious Homura followed out the door. If Harry had looked he would've seen that all four women still stared without a single motion out the door as the Guardian Sekirei passed through it. A few seconds later, Miya shook herself and followed with the rest right behind her.

-o0o0o-

It took around ten minutes for Homura to fully regain consciousness. While they waited for her, Harry mentioned to the others that it would likely be a good idea to check each of them for similar acts of violation upon their bodies as well. No one should have to live their lives with their natural abilities limited like this.

Eventually Homura groaned, moved and instantly stilled. Her voice had changed, only slightly, but it was enough to give her pause. She looked at Harry, and asked quietly, "Did it work?"

"Yes, it worked. Your ability is fully unlocked now. This is your true body, the one that's been hidden from you your whole life. With some training, you can be whoever you want to be" Harry softly spoke, trying to stress this in a way that wouldn't upset the women who formerly thought she was male.

"You're hot Homura!" Musubi's over-enthusiastic statement promptly ruined the attempt Harry had made to dance around the issue.

Homura looked at her, half-smiling, but definitely looked pained. Harry understood the turmoil. Homura _was_ hot. It wasn't the 'hot' that was the problem though, but rather the 'she' part of it.

"Musubi, I'm sure Homura appreciates the thought behind the compliment, but now is not an appropriate time for them," Harry said to her with a half smile and a quick squeeze of one of Musubi's hands.

Turning back to Homura, Harry figured it was at least time to get the clinical part of this over with, "Are you in any pain?"

"Just sore, throat hurts a bit," was the raspy response.

"You're sore cause your magical core is way down, some rest will restore it and relieve a bit of the pain. Your throat hurts cause of the screaming, I can get you a few potions that will heal it. Do you have any questions?"

"What happens now?"

Harry, who wanted to avoid the obvious question she referred to, decided to deflect a bit, "That… is entirely up to you. You don't owe me anything for helping you with this today. I try and live by '_there can be no debt between friends.'_"

"I can however, offer you some advice. You're now in a new body, there are things concerning it… that you have four people here who will freely give you good advice. I'll get you some books on Metamorphs so you can learn to slowly control your ability. I may even be able to find you the most extremely unorthodox example of a teacher possible, but I have to think about whether I want to go that route or not. You also need a new wardrobe. I would keep all of your previous clothes as well, since once you master your ability, you'll likely find yourself in situations where you need either set of clothes to blend in."

"Does that help at all?"

Homura closed her eyes, and Harry could see her mentally gear herself up to ask the question Harry knew was about to come. He glanced at Miya, who looked at him with a Cheshire cat grin. She thoroughly enjoyed how uncomfortable Harry and Homura were. Musubi and Uzume stood shoulder to shoulder and bounced like kids who were being offered a new toy. Matsu just looked unreadable, those damned glasses of hers conveniently reflected the light in a way that prevented clear view of her eyes.

"Harry, will you be my Ashikabi?" Her voice was soft and wavered slightly, but her eyes were solid steel rocks that bore the question straight into his soul.

Harry knew there was only one response to this. He nodded and said, "I would be honored." He leaned in as she rose to meet him.

The moment their lips met, fire erupted from every corner of the room. The instant conflagration was intense in its heat, yet it burned nothing. It passed through them all as if merely air, yet everyone present felt its power. Every color of the rainbow was represented. Massive wings of fire then erupted from Homura's back, first orange in color, turning a deeper color of blue, and then finally white as the kiss intensified.

Eventually, they broke apart. Harry opened her eyes just as Homura did. Just as Musubi had yin/yang symbols in her eyes when she received her wings, Homura was stared back at him with iridescent pure white flames for eyes.

"Wow," was all she could say, and it was all that was needed.

--

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka Hiroto / MBI CEO

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)


	6. Uzume's Pain

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

One curse of writing so many chapters in advance is that you tend to go back and fiddle with things a lot. This Chapter and the next two have a LOT of stuff going on in them and this is the point where my story starts really going off the tracks in terms of Sekirei Canon. I hope you all enjoy them.

Chapter First Published: 2012-03-03

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-29

**Chapter 6 - Uzeme's Pain**

Two women walked quickly through the suburban neighborhood. They were not easy to miss, with their silver-white hair which stood out just as much as their military uniforms. Both carried weapons visibly and openly upon themselves, the diversity of which was only linked by how dangerous and intimidating the weapons were. The taller woman walked with a natural grace and carried a long katana at her left hip, while the shorter one slouched slightly as she walked, her arms covered to her elbows by gauntlets with massive claws.

They approached the inn with caution and came to a stop just outside its gate. The taller women stood there silently, since the imagined reactions of those inside held her firm like a statue in. The shorter stood silently as well and waited for her companion to gather her courage to proceed inside.

Eventually the shorter woman whispered, "What will happen, will happen. Harry will protect us, I know he will. And they really do need this information." The taller women nodded and straightened at the words, the echo of intimidation previously present suddenly emitted from her at full blast once again and wiped away all remnants her previously wary countenance.

Together the two strode quickly to the door of the inn and the taller woman raised her hand. She hesitated a brief moment, then prepared to knock on the door of the woman she had once sworn to kill.

A woman who had once vowed to do the same to her.

-o0o0o-

It now approached noon in the inn, and Homura was now up and about. She was a bit uncomfortable with her body, as her center of balance had changed and she tripped occasionally upon random things.

The first time she had tripped, Harry had burst out in hysterical laughter in a way that caused everyone in the room to question his sanity. Even a casually flung fireball from an annoyed Homura couldn't stop his guffaws. Eventually he shared the reason behind his laughter. How the metamorph he had known as a teenager, named Tonks, was known far and wide for her clumsiness. This was because she was always altering her body in ways that gave her an off-kilter center of gravity. When he saw Homura already tripping on things, it brought back fond memories of the woman Harry had crushed on back when he was fifteen and hidden away in the accursed house of his godfather's parents.

The story was interrupted however, by a knock on the door. It sounded normal to Harry, but Miya immediately leapt to her feat and ran to a closet he had never paid attention to before. She reached inside and pulled out a Katana that matched the one Karasuba had used before he gave her the new one.

With the sudden realization of who must be at the door, Harry broke out into a flat run and shouted for Miya to wait.

He reached the front door just as Miya wrenched it open, pure venom in her voice and one hand on the hilt of her katana, "I warned you never to darken the doorstep of this inn again."

A full demonic intimidation aura now radiated from Miya. Harry recognized what it was and wasn't fearful in the least, but just the exposure to its presence this time made him want to take a shower. It felt dirty and… _wrong_ somehow.

He was about to open his mouth when he saw Karasuba glance at him and subtlety shake her head. She wanted to deal with this, and didn't want his help. He nodded and glanced over at Haihane. While Karasuba had not even reacted to Miya's aura, Haihane had already fled three steps backwards and gave the appearance that she clearly thought that it wasn't enough distance.

"We need to talk, things have changed," was all Karasuba replied with.

"Yes I see, you've grown arrogant enough that you believe you can disregard my instructions," Miya spat at Karasuba.

By this point they were joined by Musubi, Uzume, and Homura. Matsu had taken one look at Karasuba, squeaked, and hidden inside a closet. They all stood in the hallway behind Miya and stared in disbelief at her voice and actions. Musubi looked like she wanted to say hello when she saw Karasuba, yet another subtle shake of Karasuba's head stopped her cold. The only one out in the open who knew Miya's and Karasuba's history besides Harry was Homura, and she was at a loss at how to possibly stop the stand-off between the two Sekirei titans.

Karasuba said something next, though Harry hardly noticed. The sounds of the argument no longer reached his ears, because in his mind, he again felt that something was wrong with this whole situation. He looked around and attempted to ascertain just why he felt dirty. His gaze around the room eventually settled upon the Katana currently held in both of Miya's hands. The MBI-issued katana that was a duplicate of the one that Kara had used up till the previous day.

The MBI katana that leaked a compulsion of pure hatred and loathing that strengthened before Harry's very eyes the longer that Miya held its end in her grip.

"Miya!" Harry said loudly and forcefully. Miya turned her head, a look of pure fury in her eyes that would've sent any sane person quickly in the opposite direction.

Harry was neither sane, nor normal. He merely let out a deep breath, and pointed at her katana. "These feelings aren't yours Miya. It's your sword. The air is thick with hatred right now in this room, and it isn't coming from you. It's the sword. Someone has enchanted it, so that the longer you hold it and channel your powers through it, the angrier and more willing to fight you'll be."

"Dobby!"

"Yes sir Har-, Eeep!" Dobby had taken one look at Miya and instantly was crouched behind Harry's knees.

"Dobby, could you please retrieve Miss Kara's old katana? The one we replaced yesterday? And bring the brother sword to Kara's new katana here as well," the elf quickly nodded his head left without a word, his only desire to get away from the crazy blue-haired woman with the evil sword.

"Could we let go of the sword for just a minute, Miya? Karasuba isn't going to harm you or me, though I would like to see her try someday," Harry wriggled his eyes suggestively, making Karasuba roll her eyes and snort in a very unladylike way. Miya merely stood there, unsure whether to listen to the man who earlier that day had healed Homura, yet seemed to be on a friendly basis with her worst mortal enemy besides Minaka.

Eventually her mind overcame whatever the sword was doing just enough to release her hand from the sword. She eventually focused on Harry and said, "And there will be no activities such as that while you are here a guest."

"It is hardly my place to argue with a lovely woman as amazing as you," Harry said with a smile.

Dobby returned, carrying both swords. Harry conjured gloves before he reached out and grabbed Karasuba's old sword. He turned to Miya he asked, "How about we trade for now?"

Harry extended the brother to Karasuba's sword to Miya. "I'll give you the history behind this sword later, but for now, I really want to find out just how MBI has been screwing with your minds through these weapons."

Miya took the sword, and unsheathed it just slightly, just enough to gaze hard at the edge of the blade and see a bit of the motif that was engraved into the cool metal. Finally, she unhooked the katana at her side, and gave it to Harry.

"This is acceptable."

"May we invite our guests inside? I'm sure they have news for us, and I'm sure they are just as curious to know what exactly MBI has done to these weapons."

Miya nodded, she turned again to the two Discipline Squad members there and spoke with a monotone voice, completely devoid of her usual cheerfulness. "My apologies, I have been rude to our guests. Please come inside Karasuba, Haihane."

Harry had already moved towards the lounge, and set the two katanas on the table. He made sure to remember which one belonged to which Sekirei, as he had a hunch there might be differences between them. As the rest of the group entered the room, they were all momentarily taken aback at the sight of his eyes when they glowed a killing curse green as he examined both katanas with his Mage-Sight.

"Kara. Miya. How often do you replace the leather grips on these?" Harry asked. He thought whatever was enchanted was under this leather, but he wanted to ask some questions before he removed the straps from the grip.

Karasuba responded with, "Maybe once a year, sometimes a bit longer." Miya nodded her agreement.

"Well, that's where the runes are." Harry looked at Miya, and his eyes his continued to glow the unnatural green color that only Miya and Karasuba seemed to be able to meet the gaze of, "You remember all the symbols on the ground from this morning from when we helped Homura? Same thing here just used a much more sinister way."

Harry motioned with a hand and Kara's old sword raised off of the table. "This is Kara's old sword." A flick of Harry's wrist and a tearing sound preceded the leather straps tearing and falling onto the table. "_Engorgio,_" the growth charm increased the size of the sword to the point they all could see the symbols etched into the steal previously underneath Kara's leather grip.

Harry pointed out the tiny writing that was barely visible to their eyes even with the sword three times its normal size. "See these, every time you used your abilities while holding this sword, a little bit of your magic would bleed into them, empowering the runes. The runes would then cast spells on you, continuously reinforcing them the more they were used."

"The real question is why it stopped on Kara. These should have built up into some pretty hefty spells if you've been using the same sword for years. Just giving you a new sword shouldn't have been enough to break or cancel them only after one day. It would've taken weeks if not months for the effects to fade."

And then Harry realized what had happened.

"Oh wow. I broke the spells on you yesterday," he looked at Karasuba and continued. "Yesterday when we were at that tea shop, do you remember when I showed you the language charm? When I cancelled it and put it back on? Well, looks like I accidentally cancelled quite a bit more on you then just my own magic. You used the sword again afterwards, but that wouldn't be enough to get back to the levels of years of use the sword would have been."

Harry turned to Miya and said, "Which means Miya is probably loaded up to high hell with spells as well."

Inwardly, Harry was now cringing from what he realized he was going to have to do for every single resident in the Inn. "Ok, I think I'm going to have to check out every single one of you like I did for Homura. This will probably take about an hour and a half to get all of you, so let's get started. Miya, let's do you first, since you were the one almost ready to level the Inn."

It took almost two hours to go through Miya, Karasuba, Haihane, Matsu, Musubi, Uzume, and to do a recheck of Homura just to be safe. Harry also had every single person bring each piece of MBI provided equipment that all used on a daily basis. Harry found runes that produced compulsions in Homura's cigarette lighter, Musubi's fighting gloves, a piece of outdated security hardware Matsu was partial to even though she no longer used it, a camera used by Uzume often to take pictures for her Ashikabi, and finally, somehow embedded within the rollers inside the bandages Haihane still packed on her even though she was no longer used them.

All of them created compulsions on the girls to behave in some specific manner, but Harry's scans were not detailed enough to determine their goal. In the end, no one had any external magic applied to them besides compulsions.

A mass _Finite Incantatem_ was enough to blow through all the compulsions on the women, and Harry recommended they all stop by at least once every week or two in order to get cleared of any stray magic they may have picked up.

Once done with his role of doctor, he turned to the matter of why Karasuba and Haihane had taken such a huge risk and stopped by the inn. "So what's the reason you stopped by Kara? You could've sent Dobby and not risked blowing your cover."

Karasuba looked decidedly uncomfortable with the direct call out on this. "I'm not sure why we decided to both come. When you come out and say it, yes it was stupid, but I think I've done more impulsive and stupid things in the last day since I met you then I've done in the past ten years."

"This is entirely your fault, Harry," she said with a small smirk that instantly faded.

Haihane looked up at being implicated in the plan to visit Izumo Inn. She shrugged her shoulders and lazily said, "I'll freely admit, I just wanted to see Harry."

This caused a burst of laughter from Matsu and chuckles from Homura. Musubi was confused as normal. Miya however, simply stared down Karasuba, the years of hatred not yet quite forgotten between the two, despite whether the feelings behind them were genuine or not.

"So what was the reason you came here today, Karasuba?" asked Miya.

"Minaka is going to do something incredibly stupid, and he's forbidden the Discipline Squad from interfering directly tonight. At approximately 10pm, he is going to send out a broadcast text message to all Ashikabi. There's a Sekirei that was still being adjusted, who convinced her adjuster to take her out of MBI headquarters somewhere. I'm unsure where."

"While out today, the adjuster was attacked and slashed with a sword. I didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure you didn't do it," Kara said as she motioned towards Miya. "That just leaves one other Sekirei out there who could've attacked her."

Miya growled, and the entire room seemed to be plunged into darkness, like a solar eclipse had just occurred outside. The demonic visage of a mask seemed to project via Legilmency directly through Harry's Occlumency shields and appeared directly behind Miya as she growled one word.

"Mutsu…"

Karasuba nodded. "He never did have a brain. The girl panicked after seeing the adjustor attacked and somehow got away. Unfortunately, this was after Mutsu's Ashikabi apparently tried to force the girl to wing. The Sekirei is Number 108, Kusano. She's the Sekirei of life, and she has a strong control over plants. Her control is sporadic and still almost purely instinctual, hence why they weren't releasing her yet."

"Well, that… and the fact she's still a seven year old girl."

Harry narrowed his eyes at this, "This fuckwit's Ashikabi tried to wing a seven year old girl against her will?"

"Yes, and Minaka was so amused by the whole situation he's going to declare open season on her wherever she's at, hoping to incite more violence. I can't tell you where it happened. All I do know is the adjustor was Takami. She's one of the few adjustors that treated Sekirei like people rather then things. Takami is currently unconscious in MBI's hospital recovering." replied Karasuba.

Homura gasped, stood up and ran out of the room. Harry looked around and hoped someone would explain the reaction. Matsu was the one who provided the answers, "Homura was always told she would never likely be winged. She was almost scrapped cause of it. Takami was the one who snuck Homura out of MBI and sent her here, since I assume she suspected Miya was already sheltering me. They still stay in touch. She even comes by here every so often."

Harry nodded in understanding while he closed his eyes and thought. It was obvious what Karasuba was about to ask him to do, and he had no problem with the request.

He looked at her as she sat emotionlessly across the table and threw her a softball to get the question out in the open, "So what do you need me to do about this?"

The corner of Karasuba made a small twitch in gratitude for just an instant before it returned back to her stone serious face. "Can you head there tonight, wherever she's at and save her? I'm not asking you to wing her. Save her from whoever is there that would just use her and not care for her."

Miya had listened in silence so far, but could not help but butt in now, "Why do you care Karasuba? Wouldn't you enjoy seeing the suffering of an innocent? Weren't you the one always saying this planet and everything on it was a waste, that all you wanted to do was watch it burn?" Miya almost spat the words near the end, the venom behind the words palpable. The final words caused Matsu and Musubi to flinch as she said 'burn'.

Karasuba blinked and jerked as if she had been slapped. She looked up and was about to retort when Harry suddenly stood up, "Miya, Kara, follow me please." Miya had her 'aura' of a demon, and Harry could trump that when he decided to channel his aura while thinking of the effects of the Dementors upon himself. This is exactly what he did at the moment. Harry didn't even look to see if anyone had acknowledged him after he said this, he simply walked out the room and into the backyard.

Miya and Karasuba followed hesitantly. Neither one was armed with their katana's, but Harry knew that these two did not need weapons to kill each other. He took out a wand, and conjured a privacy dome over the three of them.

"No one can listen or see what you're saying inside this dome, and no one leaves until I release it. Now, this hatred between the two of you. It has lasted for how long exactly? Ten… fifteen years? I'm beginning to understand small inklings of it, but I think at this point it doesn't even matter who's fault the first transgression was. You're grown women. Hell, the two of you are Gods amongst the gods of your own race when compared to normal humans."

"Karasuba just made the first olive branch to you, Miya. Can you hear her out? This whole Sekirei plan sounds like absolute bullshit to me. Can you seriously pass up an ally like her in this? She's ready to make a mea culpa that I'm not even convinced she should be making, yet she's doing it anyways."

Miya looked between Harry and Karasuba, apparently at a loss as to what to say at first. This quickly changed, as she visibly got angrier and angrier the longer she stood in silence. Finally the floodgates opened.

"She's a murderer, she destroys everything she touches, and she does nothing without it benefitting herself. She's selfish and she holds no honor."

Karasuba was about to retort when Miya finally lost all sense of composure and cut across her.

"She's a thief!" Miya screamed, one solitary finger pointed at Karasuba's chest .

Karasuba stared aghast at the words, and was about to reply with some scathing retort when she glanced at Harry, who had a look of concern on his face at her initial reaction of hurt to the last remark. Harry knew what was going on. Miya had just as much if not even more blood on her own hands from her duty of running that first incarnation of the Discipline Squad. Her original complaints were distractions, trifles in the grand scheme of things which Miya herself was as guilty of as Karasuba.

It all boiled down to one woman pissed that another once loved her husband.

Karasuba looked back at Miya She opening and closed her mouth a few times while she tried to force words out, but couldn't. Eventually all she could do is continue to try and force out words as tears began to stream down her face.

It was Harry who eventually replied and provided the rebuttal to Miya's words, "Everyone does things they regret. Sometimes the regret is choosing a path in life that's hard to dig yourself out of. Sometimes the path is hard to change because that person no longer has any hope there will be something worth living for. For someone who has no hope, for someone has had their dreams destroyed, isn't it better to just see everything else _burn_ rather than face the pain themselves if no one is there to help them climb out of that hole?"

Miya stared at Harry. She was incredulous at his audacity as he brought up a topic no other person on the planet dared speak of around her. Harry no longer cared though. Karasuba had more of a claim over his feelings than Miya could dream of having at the moment.

"Karasuba's hope in the world was shattered when she was denied someone she loved. She told that other girl on the first Discipline Squad… Kazehana I think… has been drowning herself in a bottle ever since she was rejected."

"Is this normal for a Sekirei who faces rejection from an Ashikabi? Kazehana is supposedly some deeply poetic person that exists for her emotions and whims. What would she do when faced with rejection? Use alcohol to deaden the pain she feels to this very day and help her forget everything. How do you think Karasuba, a true warrior, would react to losing her chance at the same thing? She did what anyone powerful person with no true friends left to temper their fury would do. She went out and tried to destroy everything she could in her grief. As long as it brought some sort of smile to her face. As long as it could _amuse_ her in some way."

"Do I agree with what she did? No, I don't. Do I understand that absolute _need_ to destroy something when it seems the entire world has gone against you and there's no one left who actually gives a shit about you?"

"You're goddamn right I do!"

Harry's scream matched Miya's earlier outburst in intensity. His whole body shook and, with a deep breath, he forced his eyes closed. He slammed down on his Occlumency shields and as he cursed himself his temporary loss of composure which allowed his temper flare. In the meantime, Karasuba had fallen to her knees in shame and now looked around anywhere but at Miya and Harry. The former now stared open-mouthed at what was likely the first person to raise their voice at her in over a decade and still live.

Harry sank to his knees by Karasuba and pulled her into an embrace. He was on a roll, and had easily connected dots in his own mind now that he had a day's distance from Karasuba's version of events from the previous day.

"And then to top it off, the first discipline squad disbands and the only people she truly knew abandoned her. Then, she got saddled with Number Eight, who prattled on and on about love and destiny and little birds and who knows what other garbage." Harry looked sharply at Miya, "What would you do if someone did that to you day in, day out after you had your heart ripped out and shit on? She did exactly the same as what I would have done and gone on a psycho-holiday and killed whatever I was pointed at, on whatever insane missions those bastards at MBI pointed me at."

"Can you seriously blame and truly hate her? She was winged against her will. And that was after her magic itself was damaged by the failed half-bond she was already forming with your husband. Do you know what happens to magical beings that find a mate and don't bond with them? Most go insane, and those that don't, usually die. Kara's damn strong, so she's made it this far. How many more trials can you throw against her before she truly just gives up and takes her own life? I've seen this before. I've been there before. There's only so much someone can take before they just give up."

"She's asking to start over. That's why she's out here, right now with you."

"Do you truly hate her that much for loving the same man as you that you're willing to carry this grudge on forever?"

Miya had listened to Harry stand up for a woman that she hated. She was still half-furious and half-shocked by the entire situation in front of her. Her entire universe had been flipped neatly upside down since Harry had run into her Inn as he carried Homura without any other thought than to help her. This same human had now yelled at her while he comforted the person she had previously considered to be her arch-nemesis. This human had also helped one of her oldest friends while he also brought to light more subterfuge of MBI against the Sekirei.

She had no clue what to do or think, but her mind was continually drawn back to the fact the most arrogant, and quite frankly evil, person she had ever known besides Minaka was reduced to tears in front of her.

"What happened to cause this? The Karasuba I knew would never show weakness like this in front of anyone, let alone myself," was the response Miya finally gave. She was neither ready nor prepared to answer Harry's last question yet.

"Harry happened," was Karasuba's simple response. "He's everything I ever wanted before in Takehito. When I met Harry yesterday, everything Yume always bored me to tears with all finally sunk in. I don't want to be that person I became anymore. I know he's not my Ashikabi yet, but I really don't care. Maybe someday he will be, maybe he won't. Either way, meeting and reacting to him was enough for me to look at life differently."

Karasuba looked at Harry and the corner of her mouth twitched just slightly, "Harry gave me hope."

Harry was proud Karasuba could still almost smile after she had the past decade of her life summarized in such an unflattering way. Now all that was left was to see where Miya took things.

Miya stood and watched the entire exchange without a flicker of emotion. Her eyes would simply dart back and forth between Karasuba and Harry, with no indication as to what she was thinking.

Eventually, Harry watched as Miya's shoulders wilted slightly and she took one tentative step forward. She took another, and then another, until she was finally in front of Karasuba. Harry backed away, as he figured whatever exchange was about to occur, needed to happen between just the two of them.

Miya bent down to her knees and placed her arms on Karasuba's shoulders, and looked her in the eye. "I have wronged you, my sister. I kept you from becoming more then you were. I was selfish, and in my arrogance, I cost us both the love of a great man."

"I'm sorry, 'Suba."

With the apology made, Karasuba fell into Miya's chest. He realized that he was now the intruder upon a private moment, so he cancelled the dome and walked back to the Inn. All five of the remaining occupants of the Inn were there, all very curious and worried just what was happening under the dome when it had vanished.

Harry raised a finger to his mouth and motioned for them to be quiet. As he approached he asked them all to follow him back inside and leave the two alone together.

-o0o0o-

Harry plopped down on the floor around table, not saying a word. What just happened had been stressful and dangerous. He felt half-annoyed and half-ashamed he had lit into Miya like that with Kara present there to watch. The results of it all seemed to be great, but he was most certainly unhappy with the method he'd been forced to use to bring it out.

"What happened? Putting those two together in a small confined space was a recipe for disaster. I half expected the inn to be left in ruins after seeing her at the door," asked a highly agitated Homura the moment she saw Harry wasn't about to voluntarily provide any details.

"I think, they've put most of their past behind them," said Harry very simply. "I'm not going to say much more than that. I feel honored to know the little of their past that I do, and I won't violate that trust by talking about it now. I hope the peace lasts. There's a lot of pain between the two of them still, so we'll see how it goes."

The wizard looked around, and didn't like what he saw, so he decided a subject change was needed to improve everyone's mood. Harry looked at Haihane and smirked, "Gotten a bit more then you bargained for since you knocked on Karasuba's door yesterday, eh?"

"Are things around you always this insane?" Haihane simply snorted in response.

Haihane glanced around at the other girls at the table, "You all should've seen what he did to the other member of the Discipline Squad in a spar yesterday afternoon. Benitsubasa was absolutely destroyed by him, and Harry didn't break a sweat doing it."

"I think she had it coming though. She had a shit attitude, and I didn't like the way she talked to you one bit. It certainly was fun," smirked Harry.

"What was fun?" asked a disheveled Karasuba as she and Miya entered the lounge.

Harry smirked proudly, "Oh, I was just about to relive my little spar with 'Nubs' from yesterday afternoon."

After an uncharacteristic laugh broke from her lips that caused everyone to goggle at her, Karasuba broke out into a huge grin. "Oh I wish you could've all seen it. I've never seen anyone move like he moves. And he didn't '_attack'_ her at all. He simply humiliated the loudmouth and then knocked her out."

Harry suddenly realized he could show them. "Actually, I can show you the whole thing. Dobby!"

The little elf appeared, "Keeping Dobby busy today, aren't you Harry sir?" The elf said all this with a grin that caused Harry to just roll his eyes as the elf bounced and lost the top two of his hats in his eagerness to help out.

"Could you bring me the large Pensieve that's in my private study, Dobby?"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir. Be right back." The elf popped away.

"I'm still never going to get used to that little guy," mused Uzume while she shook her head in silent laughter.

"What's a Pensieve?" asked Homura.

"A Pensieve is a runic bowl, which you place memories in. You can dive in, and watch someone else's memory as it happened as if you were there observing it. You can't touch anything or interact with it, but it lets you see things as clearly as if you were there in person. It's used as evidence in court cases sometimes. I usually use them to get a fresh perspective on things much later when the emotional attachment of events isn't quite there anymore."

Haihane had a huge grin on her at this statement, "You mean I can watch Nubs the Clown say how she won't surrender to a monkey over and over again?"

'Yes, if you truly wanted to watch that '_over and over_', you certainly could," Harry replied while he shook his head. "I think you can even take cameras into a memory to take snapshots."

Dobby popped back in then, and floated the Pensieve onto a table in the lounge. Harry walked over, withdrawing a wand as he did so. Everyone else slowly gathered around the large bowl.

"Alright, I think this loses some of the effect if I show you the memory from my perspective, so I'm going to show it to you from Haihane's point of view."

Harry walked over to Haihane and said, "I want you to think of the events from yesterday, from the moment we walked into the training room, through the spar, and then all the way through to me walking over to you and Kara afterwards. Begin thinking about it from the beginning… now." As he said 'now,' Harry placed the tip of his wand against Haihane's temple and slowly began pulling it back. A shimmering strand of liquid slowly extracted itself from her head, being pulled out by Harry's wand. The strand eventually broke and Harry wafted the now floating strand into the air and watched as it settle into the Pensieve.

"That was weird," Haihane chuckled while she rubbed her temple.

"Oh, the one preface I give you before you jump in is, right before the spar began, Kara mentioned to me that Benitsubasa is very wary of her flat chest and her big ass," said Harry with a bit of exasperation as she watched Kara, who had already begun to laugh in anticipation of what she was about to see again.

"Alright to start, you just touch the liquid there with a finger to get dragged in. You'll get a feeling of falling, but don't worry about it. That will be over in a second."

Harry reached towards the Pensieve and placed a finger into the bowl, which caused him to immediately disappear from view. The others quickly followed and found themselves as observers of Haihane, Karasuba, and Harry as they walked into the training room at MBI. They laughed as the stinging hexes began fly randomly from nowhere. Miya smacked Harry upside the head when he made Benitsubasa's breasts grow, even though she still smiled in spite of herself. When the fog appeared and then disappeared, revealing the clown prank, there was absolute silence from everyone's mouths having dropped on the floor. When she screamed her high pitched response there wasn't a person who wasn't on the ground rolling in laughter. When the memory ended as Harry asked Haihane if she was ready to go, those present couldn't help but put tease Haihane good-naturedly as well.

"So yeah, that's part of what happened before Musubi sat on my face and Homura tried to burn me alive yesterday." Harry replied cheekily, which earned him another rap on top of the head from Miya.

"Oh so you've already sat on his face, Musubi? When can I partake in some experiments as well?" said Matsu while she openly leered, though she promptly backed away as Miya leveled her glare upon her.

After some nervous laughs from the people who Miya currently hadn't threatened death and disembowelment via soup ladle, Harry spoke up. "So, 108 is stuck somewhere, and every fool in the city will be gunning for her in a little under," he glanced at his watch, "eight hours."

"I say we get somewhere central in the city, say the north side of the big park there, and then wait there for the announcement. Once we get it, we head off to wherever we need to go. We grab her, and bring her back here un-winged for Miya to watch over. No one is stupid enough to attack this place, and the wards I'll put up tomorrow will let Miya and I know if anyone comes within two kilometers of this place with the intent to harm someone inside the inn."

"I assume Homura and Musubi will be coming with me?" Harry asked, getting definite nods from both of them.

"I'll come too, but I need to ask you for something as well," said Uzume as she nervously looked Harry, only able to hold his gaze for a second or so before she shifted to stare at a corner of the room.

"Ok, let's go talk," said Harry. Uzume immediately got up and walked out of the room. Harry looked around confused, but caught Miya's eye. She gave a sad reassuring smile and nodded at him.

-o0o0o-

Harry found Uzume alone outside the front-door to the inn. At that moment, she looked completely lost, "What's up?"

Uzume looked at Harry, the pain in her eyes she had tried to hide over the past day he had known her clearly showed now. She looked away off into the distance and began to speak softly, "My Ashikabi is dying. The doctors believe she has some unknown virus that is slowly killing her. She's lost the ability to walk, and she just sits there in a bed all day in a hospital in constant pain."

"The owner of the hospital is a man named Higa. He has eight or so Sekirei, a lot of them forcibly bonded to him. He's only treating Chiho because he wants to force me to… to do things for him."

Before Harry's anger at what a man could possibly force a beautiful Sekirei to 'do' for him, Uzume continued.

"He wants me to terminate Sekirei for him in exchange for keeping Chiho alive a bit longer. I have until this afternoon to accept."

Harry was already getting angry at the description of Higa's deeds, but this nearly made him go over the edge. He had only been able to reign in his anger for the sake of Uzume, as the situation clearly had taken a toll upon her to reveal even this much to him.

"I'll do anything to help Chiho, but she wouldn't want me to do this. I can't just let her die though. You healed Homura when no one else could. You healed all the cuts on Haihane. Can you help Chiho?"

By the end of her talk tears were fell openly, but her eyes were steady, her strength palpable.

Harry nodded, "I'll do anything I can to help. You were willing to help Homura when she needed you. I would've helped you regardless, but I'll do anything I can to help you because of that. I know the others will bend over backwards to help you too. Let's go inside, looks like we're planning two rescue missions for today," Harry said.

He conjured some tissues for her. They had big penguins embroidered on them which caused Uzume to laugh. She had mentioned earlier she liked to wear Cosplay outfits in order cheer up her Ashikabi, and the small gesture definitely helped at the moment.

Quiet conversation met Uzume and Harry as they rejoined the group. Musubi and Karasuba talked quiet animatedly over in the corner. Homura and Haihane appeared to have traded sarcastic remarks between the two successfully in the corner. In another corner, Miya and Matsu sat in silence at the table.

After he sat down and got the attention of the room, Harry began to explain their newest dilemma on Uzume's behalf. "Uzume is being blackmailed into assassinating other Sekirei. Some dude named Higa owns the hospital her Ashikabi is currently dying in, and he says he'll refuse her treatment if Uzume doesn't go along with this."

It was if the group had suddenly been transported to the middle of the North Pole. The temperature seemed to drop and the lights grew dim. The quite outside calm demonstrated by Miya's face totally was contradiction to the pure white fury radiating from the woman.

Harry had to force himself to continue rather than gawk at the power the woman could casually throw out in her anger. "We already have one rescue mission to perform tonight, but I would like to do this as well."

After a short pause while he tapped his finger mindlessly on the table, Harry tried to re-run through the very quick plan he had come up with in the twenty second walk back to the group. He eventually looked up after a few moments and continued, "Here's what I would like to do. And hear my whole plan out before you object to one specific part of it."

"I want Uzume to go to Higa today, and accept his proposition." Simply holding up a hand to forestall any objections to this, Harry turned to Uzume and continued, "I want you to ask him for a list of targets, not just one at a time. Say that you don't like going to wherever the heck he's at. You'd rather just have the whole list at once, in case a target presents itself unexpectedly. I'll be along with you invisible in the room just in case."

"After that, Uzume and I will go to the hospital, and Chiho will 'check out'. I'm going to cast a spell or two over all the guards, nurses and doctors we see that makes them think Chiho passed away. Then we'll simply just Portkey here directly to the inn."

"Once we get Chiho set up here, we'll deal with this list. We know Higa has these Sekirei targeted for some reason. I propose we try and find them all. We can tell them what Higa has planned for them and ask them and their Ashikabi's to come here, or to the property I'm warding as a safe house. This way, even if Higa sends more Sekirei after them, they'll hopefully be safe. I really don't see too many people attacking this place as long as Miya's here. Especially when Karasuba and Haihane eventually decide to go AWOL and show up here more frequently."

"I can help, '_eye in the sky_' and all that," Matsu said. "I can track Sekirei who aren't single numbers or in the Discipline Squad using Minaka's own satellites. We should be able to find each of them pretty quickly."

"We'll just need to be careful when we approach them. If they're already being chased, they might not trust what we tell them and they may fight us. Cornered Sekirei can be very dangerous," said Homura with some tiredness still in her eyes.

"And that's why I'll be going along with whatever mission we send eventually out to find them. The more I get to know this city, the faster I can move large groups of people anywhere with Apparition or Portkeys."

"If I take one of those just once and throw up, I'm not going to be amused," said Karasuba as her eyes narrowed.

"Well, I can always provide you a broomstick," said Harry cheekily.

"You people actually fly brooms?" asked Matsu in an incredulous manner. "That has to be the most cliché thing I've ever heard."

"Anyways," said Harry as he threw Matsu a mock-glare, "any objections to this plan with Higa and Chiho? I'd like to leave now if we can so we still have plenty of time to prepare to rescue 108 tonight."

Everyone shook their heads, and a grim determination set in on every face.

Harry just leaned back in his chair and said with mock-seriousness. "Is there anything else we want to accomplish today while we're all sitting around? I mean, we healed Homura this morning and hopefully just somewhat reconciled Miya and Karasuba. We're going to do a jailbreak in a hospital and foil an evil villain's plot to assassinate Sekirei. Then after that, we're going to rescue 108 tonight."

Karasuba snorted along with a few others when it was all laid out like that.

At the sound of Karasuba, Harry pulled out a full-blown lopsided Potter grin and said, "I mean, I just want to make sure no one's finding this all too boring. I'm sure we could fit a few more things in there."

The only sound to greet this statement was Harry's exclamation as Miya thumped him over the head with a soup ladle.

-o0o0o-

Uzume and Harry entered Higa's corporate headquarters together. She was again dressed in her typical outfit, Capri pants and t-shirt. Harry was disillusioned and followed directly behind her. He had placed a spell over her eyes so Uzume could see Harry's outline whenever she stared directly at him.

She was nervous to the extreme about this. Harry on the other hand seemed to find the whole mission mildly irksome. It seemed a lot of the employees knew of Uzume, and their open sneers as they passed greatly tested Harry's patience. The further they proceeded into the hospital, the more complicated the vengeance Harry plotted to rain down upon its employees upon a future secret return trip. He wouldn't kill them outright; just place some permanent bowel-loosening curses on these people.

Harry smiled as she remembered the tale of Ron Weasley's trouble with the spell when Hemione had used it on him after Harry had fled the country. There truly was nothing quite like people condemned to shit their pants randomly for the rest of their lives as retribution for their crimes.

They eventually reached Higa's office. They had rehearsed what she would say as they travelled to the building. Her goal was to ensure continued treatment in exchange for a list of Sekirei targets to take out. She was to mention Ashikabi's too, since Harry wanted to know just how far Higa was willing to go in his quest to rule the Sekirei roost. Uzume's final task was to try and get as many names as possible for her targets, so Harry and crew could try and safely find them all before Higa did.

They eventually found themselves outside the door to Higa's private office. There were two large rather brutish guards outside. Harry did some casual Legilimency on them and very quickly determined they were as dumb as a box of rocks. No threat whatsoever to him or Uzume. '_But at least they looked good while being useless_,' thought Harry.

A knock on the door brought forth an arrogant sounding voice calmly drawling, "Enter" in a manner worthy of a Malfoy.

Uzume and Harry walked in, to see Higa sitting at his desk. He had one Sekirei with him, a rather nerdy looking grayish white haired woman with glasses seated to his left and slightly behind him.

"Please have a seat, Number 10," Higa said as he gestured to the chair in front of the desk.

"Tha… thank you for seeing me," was all Uzume said quietly.

"_Good. Make him think you're already defeated on the inside_.' Harry smirked internally. Higa seemed quite pleased with himself. The other Sekirei present had sat there emotionlessly as she watched the scene before her unfold. Harry however had only half-listened to the start of the while he planted listening charms that would later be tied back to a pen and notebook back at Izumo Inn. He wanted to make sure to dig up all the dirt and intelligence on Higa he could, and he doubted Higa had any method at his disposal that was capable to defeat a listening charm.

"I take it you've come to a decision?" said Higa casually.

"Yes, I'll do it, just keep Chiho alive," said Uzume in a determined manner, that completely sold the whole deception perfectly to the idiot behind the desk.

"Excellent," sneered Higa slowly, with his fingers steepled together and a soft smile on his face. Harry almost lost it there in laughter. All someone had to do was insert C. Montgomery Burns' face over this idiot and Harry would have sworn he had just somehow been inserted into an episode of The Simpsons.

Harry saw the grey-haired Sekirei wince at the agreement though. '_Maybe there's some hope for that one. We'll have to look into isolating and talking to her later._' Harry also wondered how many of Higa's Sekirei were winged against their will like every collective Ashikabi besides himself was going to attempt to impose upon 108 tonight. He pulled out a wand and casually did a Legilimency scan of Higa while under the invisibility cloak.

Harry quickly found that Higa had eight Sekirei at this point. The one next to him, Number 22 Kochou, was a tactical analyst with skills just shy of Matsu, yet had no true skills at fighting herself. She was forcibly winged and hid her disgust of Higa well, but he was well aware of how much she disliked him.

He found that Higa had four other Sekirei inside the building at the moment. All of them currently under orders to rest and train.. The remaining three of his Sekirei were out in the city to the southwest under orders to hunt down an un-winged Sekirei that they had chased for three days straight in shifts. The girl, Number 40, Shi, was tired and hadn't slept once in those three days since being released by MBI. Higa had an unnamed contact within MBI who feed him release dates, so he was able to dog the girl's steps within moments of her departure from MBI's relative safety.

He had sent three Sekirei on the mission instead of two because one of the three, despite easily being his best fighting Sekirei, had also been winged unwillingly and had been known to go against his orders. The two girls he had sent were there to keep Number 16, Toyotoma, in line as much as they were there to drag Number 40 back here.

With this information firmly in mind, Harry decided today's mission scope just got its first secondary objective.

"It's good you agreed. Chiho will continue to receive the highest quality treatment as long as you do as instructed. Here is your first target," and the bad man reached into a drawer and flipped through a few folders before he handed one over to Uzume.

"Is it possible to get more than one target? I'd rather know if a girl I happen upon is a marked right away then wait and find out later I should've terminated her."

Higa cocked his head and thought the idea through. He glanced at the Sekirei at his side, who looked fearful for the smallest moment before she hid it behind a mask of indifference.

"Well?" was all Higa impatiently said to her.

"It would be a sound decision to give her as many targets as possible now. It will also help hide her connection to us since she wouldn't be seen entering or leaving this building as often as she would have been required otherwise." Number 22's analysis was cold and direct. Higa thought she obviously had a great mind and treated her as his primary advisor.

"Then I agree. Here, take these as well, and do not let them be seen by others, or there will be direct consequences for Chiho," Higa all but snarled the bit at the end. Uzume sold it all with an obvious 'gulp' as her response.

'…_And the Oscar goes to…._' laughed Harry to himself. He would need to show this to everyone later via Pensieve. Uzume could go on to be an actress some day with a convincing show like this.

Heaven knows she had the body for it.

"And what of the Sekirei's Ashikabi's if they are present?" Uzume asked with an emotionless mask on her face.

"If they interfere, do not hesitate to kill them. Kill them in their sleep if you have to, it does not matter. Just do not be present when MBI shows up to claim the bodies," said Higa dismissively.

Higa handed the folders over, and then shooed Uzume away. The arrogant fool didn't even bother to dismiss her before he had turned his attention back to Number 22. Uzume quickly out the door while she placed the documents in a backpack she had brought with her.

The two stepped out into the hallway and walked a good distance from the guards before Harry whispered to her, "Hurry outside, I learned something in there from Higa's head that we have to move fast to take advantage of. He's got three Sekirei out searching for an un-winged that they're going to drag back here to Higa. I say we grab all four of them, then go bust Chiho out, deal?"

Uzume nodded in reply and doubled her pace. She casually remarked with a slightly vindictive smirk, "If we do it right, it'll mean more chaos for Higa. This should work out well."

-o0o0o-

They walked outside, and proceeded one block up and into an alleyway between two buildings. Harry summoned Dobby and had him bring him a broomstick. The elf was back almost immediately and Harry hopped on. He motioned at the empty space behind him while he asked, "Miss, would you like to ride my broomstick?"

Uzume laughed and lightly bonked Harry on the head while she sat down without hesitation behind. She wrapped her arms across his lower chest, and said, "That was one of the cheesiest lines I've ever heard. Has it ever actually worked on someone?"

"No, I highly doubt that would work on anyone to be honest, but it served its purpose when you laughed. Good to see you still being able to smile despite all this craziness." Harry said absent-mindedly as he checked over himself to make sure everything was secure.

Uzume chuckled and leaned in close, speaking in a sultry voice that just oozed sexiness, "Maybe later then. Your broomstick certainly looks big enough. And it would have to be to handle both me and Chiho at the same time."

The realization of just how badly he had lost this verbal spar hit Harry about the same time his cheeks turned a bright red. He pushed off the ground while he cast a disillusionment charm over the two of them, which couldn't unfortunately hide Uzume's squeal of delight behind him.

Harry went for altitude first. He knew he was currently engaged in the figurative search for a needle in a haystack, but he had a general idea of where the Sekirei would be from what he had casually ripped from Higa's mind.

He turned on his Mage-Sight full blast. Nothing of the natural world was visible to him in this state, only magic. It was an inky darkness where the random barely visible lights for the most part represented squibs. They flew for ten minutes when Harry exclaimed suddenly, "There they are!" and sent the broom into a nosedive. He had seen three beacons of light as they chased a fourth slightly less powerful light in the distance.

"We're going to land right in their path. I'll do a mass-stun. You try and calm down Number 40. Her name's Shi and she's going to absolutely exhausted and may be hard to reason with," Harry yelled over his shoulder at Uzume through the noise of the wind as they gained speed. As the two got lower and lower, Harry slowly cycled through some Occlumency exercises as he mentally prepared himself for Battle.

A sudden noise whipped loudly from behind he, and he glanced back and Uzume had somehow willed her outfit to change. She now wore white veils and cloth that whipped around behind her as if they were alive and sentient, completely under her control. Her face was veiled and she was practically naked with the exception of extremely well placed pieces of cloth.

'_Must be some kind of transfiguration power, changing her clothes around using just her own will, or something like that,'_ thought Harry absent mindedly while he tried to think up an effective spontaneous strategy that wouldn't get him or Uzume hurt and that would capture the three chasing Sekirei as well. Finally he decided absolute chaos and confusion would work the best, since the hunters would be completely focused upon their prey and not notice they were now the hunted.

After he blindly threw a mass translation charm at the roof and applied a cushioning charm to his feet, he leaped off the broom while the disillusionment charms upon him and Uzume were cancelled. The rooftop they landed upon was quite large, and Shi took no notice of them as she ran by ten feet to their left as they landed.

Harry cast a _Sonorous_ on himself and yelled, "Hey bitches" and began to launch a wide barrage of stunners at the approaching Sekirei. Two of them were hit almost instantly, leaving a third to continue on. She had quickly switched targets from Shi to Harry and seemed quite deft at evasive maneuvers.

The woman seemed to figure out right away it was best to not get hit by the red flashes of light that had just taken down her comrades. She was quite attractive and muscular with short hair and darker skin. Like most Sekirei he had encountered, she came equipped with a massive chest that was quite prominently on display at the moment. Harry was temporarily mesmerized for a brief moment as her breasts bounced almost completely unhindered by her sports bra. After a violent shake of his head which cleared his thoughts, Harry fired three more stunners at the woman. The first two missed easily, but the third was on track to hit his target until the woman vaulted up and over Harry.

It was a highly agile move, and Harry easily respected the skill required to make such a move. But he had to shake his head at how this acrobatic leap had just increased the ease at which Harry would be able to capture her. Harry cast a silent _Aquamenti_ at the spot he knew she would land, followed by a _Glacius_. The water that appeared and instantly froze into a frozen sheet of black was nearly invisible when compared to the rest of the asphalt roof. The woman, had she been a gymnast, would have received a perfect '10' for as she landed had it been in the Olympics. However, it wasn't the Olympics, and the perfect attack position she landed held for about a quarter of a second before both her feet slipped from underneath her and she smacked her head on the ground.

One more casual stunner from Harry and all three of Higa's Sekirei were unconscious. Harry summoned the bodies of the two other Sekirei over and had bound all three together tightly after petrifying them first. Deciding to worry about identifying the possible defector in the group later, Harry joined Uzume, who was keeping her distance from Shi while still trying to placate the girl. Uzume had ignored the fight as she ran over the chased Sekirei, who now shook violently as she backed away in fear from Uzume.

"Are you Shi?" Harry asked in a quiet voice. He surreptitiously threw calming charm at the girl that struck home without notice. Shi could have been told the sky was blue by her best friend at this point and not believed them, as agitated and stressed out as the girl was.

"Yes, but I won't be taken to him. I want to find my Ashikabi. I won't be forced," the girl yelled. She was absolutely exhausted, her limbs shook and tears ran openly down her face. Her hair was a mess and her outfit was torn and slashed everywhere. The last three days since he had been set loose by MBI had obviously been extremely rough on her.

"We're here to help," said Uzume while she raised her hands in the air slowly to pull back the veil that obscured her face.

"Harry here is an Ashikabi who's helping me. He's not even my Ashikabi. His two Sekirei are at a safe-house up in the north with a bunch of other un-winged Sekirei. I live there too while my Ashikabi is in a hospital. We can take you to the safe house. You'll have food, a place to sleep, and you won't have to worry about people attacking you there."

"This isn't a trick?" the exhausted girl whispered in a tone that hinted she wanted nothing more than to place absolute faith within Uzume's words.

"No, it's not a trick," said Harry. "There are probably around ten or so Sekirei who come in and out of the place. Every last one of them, including the two I have winged, would kick my ass if I even dreamed of winging a Sekirei that didn't want me."

Uzume laughed at this, "Oh, but they would only kick your ass after Miya had killed you. Doesn't that make you feel special?"

Harry rolled his eyes, and looked at Shi. "We can help you, if you want to come with us. We won't force you to, but we would really like to help you. To be honest, it's what we do."

The girl stood there in blank shock, unable to comprehend the lifeline that had been thrown to her. Harry leaned close and whispered, "Go to her," in Uzume's ear. Uzume walked over and simply held the girl who began to break down in her arms as whatever horrors she had faced over the past few days finally came back to haunt her.

Harry created a portkey with a random empty soda can that was on the roof. "Come on, we'll go back to the inn and drag these three losers with us and let the whole group decide what to do with them." Harry tied the portkey inside the ropes binding Higa's three Sekirei together and watched them teleport away.

Harry walked over to Shi and Uzume and said, "This will be a bit uncomfortable. It'll be over in a second or two though. We're going to teleport to the inn. It'll feel like you're being squeezed through a tube, but it'll be over in a few seconds. Just hold on to me." Harry grabbed Uzume with one hand, and wrapped the arm carrying his broom around Shi. Both girls were buried in his chest grasping on to his shirt.

"Ok ready? 3… 2… 1…" and with a pop, all three disappeared.

-o0o0o-

The Inn was in a bit of a crisis when they arrived. Harry had the portkey dump the three would-be kidnappers right outside the main door of the Inn. Problem was, Homura and Musubi were five feet away discussing Harry when the three captured Sekirei nearly appeared right on top of them a minute earlier. Musubi shrieked loudly and caused Miya to run outside.

Miya stared at the three intruders for only a few moments before she muttered, "Harry better have a good explanation for this…"

Homura however was already one step ahead in her efforts to try and piece the clues together. She knew who these three were. They were Higa's top three blood hounds and one of the main source of problems for her, the Guardian Sekirei. These three had participated in the capture of at least three un-winged Sekirei that she was personally witness to that were now part of Higa's ranks, and there probably were more she wasn't. They were vicious while on the hunt and had claimed at least one un-winged Sekirei for Higa a week recently. Homura thought she knew exactly happened.

"Harry wouldn't send these three along if he wasn't coming here shortly with Uzume. Besides I think I know why he did this. These three are some of Higa's Sekirei. They constantly are out capturing un-winged Sekirei to drag back to Higa so they can serve him. I bet Harry caught them in the act and decided to bring them back here before figuring out what to do with them."

Miya was about to respond when a loud crack echoed nearby. Harry appeared, holding Uzume and a third girl who looked like she had been through a war zone. Miya immediately sprang forward as Harry began explaining. "Her name's Shi, Higa's been having those three thugs over there chase her the last three days since she was released from MBI. She hasn't eaten or slept in all that time, and I think we found her when she was on her last legs. Can you provide her a room, Miya?"

Miya nodded and wrapped one of the girl's arms around her own shoulders. "Come on dear, we'll get you to a room so you can rest. Welcome to Izumo Inn."

Shi could barely acknowledge the greeting since she was so tired. Her eyes were completely closed and she literally had nothing left as Miya easily supported her weight. If Harry and Uzume had waited five more minutes to find her, she no doubt would've been captured.

As Miya was about to cross the door, she turned around, "Harry, there will be no violence within the boundaries of this Inn. Whatever you decide, please do it elsewhere." Harry nodded and understood clearly the implicit message that was given. If a battle or elimination occurred here, it would attract the eyes of MBI, and that was the last thing they needed.

"We still need to get Chiho. I'm going re-stun these knuckleheads and then dump them under a tree over there. Musubi, can you watch them while Homura just patrols the area for now. I doubt Higa will be able to track them here, but I want to be safe. One of the these three is an unwillingly winged Sekirei to Higa. She's also Higa's strongest fighter. Whatever we decide, I want to offer that one a chance to stay here before we take the other two somewhere to deal with them."

Homura and Musubi both nodded their agreement. "Uzume, can you take those folders you got from Higa out and give them to Homura? We need to get these up to Matsu so she can get started on figuring out who and where they all are. Thanks for all your help you two." Harry kissed both Homura and Musubi, bringing out their wings and leaving them both with smiles upon their faces.

He fired one more stunner each at the three bound Sekirei, and floated them over to a tree at the corner of the yard. They were in the shadows of it, and it would be hard to spot them there unless someone looked specifically for them.

"Ready Uzume?" Harry asked the now normally dressed Sekirei. He had not even noticed her clothes as she changed back into her normal clothes. It didn't really matter which outfit Uzume had on, she looked utterly amazing either way. But this outfit was certainly a lot less conspicuous.

"We're going to start back at that alley at Higa's headquarters, and then walk to the hospital. I'll do some lightly memory modifications oneveryone inside as we go up to Chiho's room so that they think she just passed away after doctors spent forty-five minutes in an attempt to save her. All her charts will be updated by those doctors that think she's gone, and Higa will have everything he needs to think she's dead except for the body itself."

She easily agreed to the plan, jaw set firmly with resolve. Harry reached over and wrapped his arms around Uzume in a hug, "Ok, here we go." With another loud crack, they were gone from the Inn, Musubi now the only one aware that two people had just stood in front of her moments earlier.

-o0o0o-

They arrived in the alleyway and quickly began their trek way to the hospital. Harry was once again under a disillusionment charm so that only Uzume could see him. No one even attempted to hinder Uzume as she walked to her Ashikabi's room. She was such a regular and well-known visitor they practically ignored her as she walked. Which was fine by Harry, as every person they saw in a nurse or doctor's uniform was being hit by spells which convinced them of Chiho's recent death as they walked past.

The spells were a subtle thing. They were not obliviations, and they weren't compulsion charms. It was a combination of some very fast legilimency along with a mild _confundus_ which blurred the memories he had just inserted casually through every single person where he had a direct line of sight to their eyes.

They eventually arrived at Chiho's room and found two guards outside. Harry did not think it was possible, but a quick Legilimency sweep told him they were even stupider then the ones outside of Higa's office. Harry followed Uzume as she walked in, the complete lack of acknowledgement from the guards quite rude in Harry's opinion. Another quick _Confundus_ and Legilimency combo made hid the fact from the guards that the door had even been opened.

Harry's first impression of the girl he found inside was that Chiho was a very pretty girl. She was a small waifish brunette who had weathered the ravages of a debilitating illness quite well. She had been staring morosely out the window as they entered, and her face brightened into a smile that could eclipse the sun as Uzume entered. Before their reunion could go too far, Harry removed the spells on himself and cast a translation spell to Chiho.

Chiho gasped as Harry appeared out of nowhere, but Uzume immediately grabbed her attention with a kiss that caused Uzume's veiled wings to erupt from her back. When they finished their impromptu snog, which Harry was in no hurry to interrupt due to how hot the two lesbians looked, Uzume spoke urgently, "Chiho, love. We need to get you out of here. It's not safe for you in this hospital anymore. People are using your illness to try and force me to do bad things. Harry here is going to try and help. He's an Ashikabi who has powers that even I've never heard of. Trust him, please. I trust him with my life."

Harry stepped forward, "Hi Chiho, I know why Uzume's always staring off into space now with a smile on her face. She's obviously been thinking about making out and doing god knows what else with you." Both girls blushed furiously, and Harry turned to Uzume and smirked, "That'll teach you to try and make me blush, Miss Uzume. Now, do you have any belongings in this room or somewhere else we need to pick up?"

Chiho shook her head, "Everything I own is in this room. My parents are dead, and Uzume and I have sold everything I own just to keep up with the payments for my treatments. We have nothing left," her eyes quickly watered while she said this. She was no doubt scared of what little time she thought remained of her life, as well as scared for Uzume, whose life was irrevocably tied to hers.

"Well, it's a good thing I have plenty of money, and a few alternative methods of treatments that normal uptight doctors around here have never heard of before. I'm going to transport you out of here right to the place Uzume stays. There are lot of people there who really want to meet you." Harry grabbed the few meager possessions that Chiho still owned and put them all into a pile.

"Dobby!"

The elf appeared with a crack and Chiho screamed. Uzume just laughed and hugged Chiho, "Don't worry about it. Dobby's a friend. And he's funny too."

"Dobby, can you take all of Chiho's belongings here back to Uzume's room at the inn?" asked Harry.

"Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir," and the elf and the pile disappeared instantly.

"Well, time to go," said Harry cheekily. "Come on Uzume, let's stand her up gently. It'll be easier to transport her if she's standing up and we're supporting her."

Chiho was quite weak, and could not even swing her barely functioning legs out of the bed. Harry helped as they stood the fragile girl up. Harry was surprised to discover that Chiho would likely be around Harry's height of 6'2" if she recovered her health and was able to stand up straight on her own. They walked her a few feet from the bed, and Harry gripped both of them tightly.

"Ok, Chiho. I'm going to teleport us over to where Uzume and I live now. It's going to feel like you're being squeezed through a tube and make you a bit dizzy. Just hold on for a few seconds, that's all it'll take and then it will be over. Ready? 1, 2, 3…" With crack, they were gone.

-o0o0o-

They arrived back at the inn where Miya instantly claimed the primary caretaker position over Chiho. The girl seemed overwhelmed at how many people cared for her well-being. Her spirits seemed to rise exponentially at the merest possibility that Harry might be able to help her.

She was moved into Uzume's room, where Miya stated that for as long as Chiho was sick, the rule about mingling would be relaxed for only the two of them. Miya stared directly at Musubi with her Hannya mask prominently on display, which promptly put the fear of God, also known as Miya Asama, into her so she wouldn't think of violating the rules of the inn again.

Harry went to work right away once Chiho was placed in Uzume's bed. He went through the standard battery of tests he subjected everyone else too, and was surprised at the result of the very first test when he began reading. "_Classification: Squib_"

"Well how about that?" mused Harry aloud. There was a distinct chance with Chiho being a squib that whatever ailment was affecting here was a magical one, which is why no normal hospital had the capabilities to cure it. It was currently 6pm in Tokyo, meaning it was 9am back in Scotland. Madame Pomfrey should be awake and should be able to correctly diagnose what was behind Chiho's illness.

Making a copy of the spell results, Harry summoned Dobby and asked him to take the results to Madame Pomfrey and wait for a diagnosis from her if she had time. With that, Harry finally sat down. It had been a long day, and they still had to rescue 108 and figure out what to do with Higa's three kidnappers.

Unfortunately, there was no rest for the wicked, Harry decided he was better off not putting off a bit of relaxation and went outside to find Musubi and the prisoners. He collected Homura and Miya along the way, since Toyotama may or may not accept lodging at the inn when asked.

The group of three found Musubi as she lounged on a colorful lawn chair and sipped Mai-Tai's that Harry guessed had been provided by Winky. He just laughed at Musubi's bright smile as they approached. "No one's awake yet, and I got thirsty. Guard work like this is rough." Her smile stopped with a yelp of pain as Miya wacked her over the head.

"Alright, let's get this over with. I think the tall one with the really dark green hair is Toyotama, let's start with her," said Harry as he took the ropes off that had bound the three unconscious Sekirei together. They were each individually bound and petrified still, so he wasn't really worried about what they would do.

He floated the taller Sekirei over to the middle of the yard and set her down on her back. He removed the _Petrificus Totalus_ from her and then cast _Rennervate_ to awaken her from the earlier stunner she was hit with. She gasped awake and then groaned from a headache which was the hallmark of extended unconsciousness from a stunner.

"Drink this, it'll get rid of the headache," he said without preamble and poured the painkiller potion down her throat. She coughed and sputtered, but didn't complain about any more pain after a few seconds.

"Who are you, why am I bound?" she asked the group that she realized now stood above her.

"You're bound because we caught you trying to kidnap an un-winged Sekirei. Around here we frown on activities such as that," said Harry.

"What was I supposed to do? The other two with me would just have told Higa I didn't cooperate and then he'd have them beat me or thrown out. I don't have anywhere else to go if I don't do as he says," the girl said coldly.

"Were you winged against your will?" asked Homura. Harry noticed the subject was always a sore one for the Guardian Sekirei. She took each unwillingly winged Sekirei as a personal failure on her account. It was her job to protect them. For every unwilling bond she prevented, unfortunately two or three more were occurred she couldn't stop.

"Yes, the two I was with today were the ones who captured me and dragged me to Higa. They're the only ones out of all of Higa's Sekirei that could've done what they did to me."

'_The girl certainly still has her pride, for sure,_' thought Harry as he verified her statements through Legilimency as she spoke. From her perspective, she was in no-win situation and she still had not backed down.

Harry sat down in front of her. "Well, we're here to offer you a deal. We're starting a safe-house, for un-winged and unwillingly winged Sekirei. If you want to stay here, you can. No strings attached. You'll have food, shelter and your freedom to go as you please. All that we ask is that you follow Miya's rules about living here."

"What are the rules?" asked Toyotama with interest.

"There is no fighting, obscenity, or illicit sexual activity within Izumo Inn," said Miya with a sickly sweet voice with demonic Hannya materialized behind her.

Toyotama started to stutter immediately at the sight. It was clear she wanted nothing more at the moment than to get away from Miya. "I-I.. c-can.. d-do…that." She managed to get out before Miya returned to normal with a smile on her face.

"Miya can provide you a room to stay in. All that she typically asks for in terms of rent is help around the inn with random chores that pop up. There are a lot of Sekirei here, many of whom aren't winged. So everyone kind of mutually protects everyone else," said Harry as he vanished the ropes that held Toyotama down and reached out a hand to help her up.

When she stood, Harry finally got a good look at her. She was tall, easily over 6'3". Her body was very athletic and toned; with the only fat on her body seemingly present in the two overly large globes attached her chest. If she wasn't already bound to Higa, Harry would've easily found himself trying to flirt with the girl. As it was however, she was bound, and he wasn't going to attempt to break any bonds on Sekirei until he has broken Karasuba's and Haihane's first. MBI would be given no notice whatsoever that Sekirei bonds could be broken until two thirds of its own Discipline Squad abandoned them.

Miya took Toyotama inside, leaving Harry, Musubi, and Homura with the two remaining prisoners. "I say we wake them up, get any additional information we can on other un-winged Sekirei they may be chasing, and then have Musubi and you each take their crests. This way, it makes it so each of you has participated in 'the plan'."

"Any objections or other ideas?"

"Do we have to eliminate them? It doesn't seem right with them helpless like this," said Musubi.

"It also isn't right that they chased down Shi for the last three days and forced Toyotama to help them. And I'm willing to bet Shi wasn't the first one they've done this too. You just heard Toyotama say they did this to her too. If we don't eliminate them, they'll just return to Higa and keep doing the same things over and over to other Sekirei."

He walked over and gave Musubi a hug. "It was a hard lesson that I learned a long time ago. You don't leave unrepentant enemies at your back where they can slide a knife into it later when you're not looking. These aren't Sekirei anymore, they're our enemy. And I couldn't live with myself if we let them go and they came back and did something to you or Homura."

Homura had walked over at this point and placed an arm on Musubi's shoulder, "I agree. They represent everything I fight against. A lot of Sekirei will get their chance now to find their fated Ashikabi if we remove them from the streets."

"Are we three in agreement then?" asked Harry.

After nods were received from both girls, Harry started his long slow walk towards the prisoners. "Miya said whatever we do, we can't do it here. So, I'm going to portkey us to the rooftop where we captured them. This way, MBI has no idea they were here. Once done, MBI does their pickup, and then we come back here, eat, and get ready to save 108 tonight."

With a deep breath, Harry summoned a fallen branch from under the tree. A quick hand-motion turned it into a portkey, which he promptly stuffed between the bindings that held the two comatose prisoners. A moment later they vanished. Musubi and Homura instantly moved to his side and allowed him to wrap an arm around both of them Without thinking or warning, Harry immediately apparated to the rooftop. Which turned out to be a slight mistake. After the trip was over, Musubi spluttered incoherently and Homura swore loudly at the lack of warning they had received.

"Oops," said Harry as he stuck his tongue out and batted away a stray fireball from Homura.

"Don't ever do that again without warning, Harry," yelled Homura.

With a rather sheepish grin, Harry walked over and revived both their prisoners. He kept their bindings intact and merely allowed their heads the ability to move. "Well, isn't this a predicament you two have found yourself in."

The two girls groaned loudly in pain from the headaches the _Stupify's_ had inflicted upon them. But Harry really didn't care at this point.

"Who are you two," Harry spat at them.

"Sai, Number 31," wheezed out the smaller blond girl with short hair and whip like weapons on her forearms.

"Don't give him any information you stupid slut," yelled the other one, the taller dark skinned Sekirei who's massive breasts had momentarily entranced Harry earlier.

"Ah, our first volunteer to provide us with information. Tell me, how many Sekirei have you kidnapped to involuntarily wing for your master, _LEGILIMENS!_" Harry all but screamed the last word, mainly to ensure he had intimidated the other girl.

He was not gentle. He learned a long time ago that the Occlumency sessions he had with Snape in his fifth year of Hogwarts were not designed to help him learn the skill. They were designed to tear open his mind's natural defenses. The whole process had been a reward for Snape while he brutally and intentionally forced Harry to relive all his most uncomfortable and terrifying experiences.

Snape wasn't even that good a Legilimens. His torture sessions with Harry were more akin to a Bull in a China shop. Voldemort could easily and quite stealthily tip toe through a victims mind without them feeling anything and pull up anything at will. With his knowledge of the two methods, Harry currently utilized something akin to Voldemort's practiced grace combined with Snape's rampaging rhino on the Sekirei that had mouthed off to him. To make the process go even faster, Harry had asked the question first so the girl's mind would subconsciously push the related information near the surface, so the it would be made far easier for him to find.

Her name was Ichiya, and she and Sai were confirmed to be the ones who had captured Toyotama and were essentially her wardens. They made sure Number 16 never got too far out of line and brutally punished her if she did. Under the service of Higa, Toyotama had spent just as much time in the search for other Sekirei as she had lain in a hospital bed with numerous broken bones from her comrades. Ichiya had also participated in the collection of not only Number 22, but two additional Sekirei named Oshino and Kujou. That would leave Higa with three of his remaining five Sekirei having been unwillingly bound to him, and question marks over the remaining two.

Harry pulled out of Ichiya's mind, leaving her a shivering wreck on the rooftop. She mindlessly tried unsuccessfully to curl up into a fetal position despite the ropes she was bound with. Sai simply stared at her fellow Sekirei with wide-eyes, fear broadcasting openly from her eyes as she had no idea what Harry had just done. Only that he had definitely hurt her and she was likely next.

"And what about you, are you willing to answer questions voluntarily, or will you choose the hard way as well? I know Ichiya was present when Higa unwillingly bound Toyotama, Kochou, Oshino, and Kujou. What about the last two Sekirei he has right now?" Never before was Harry as grateful for the near perfect memory that Occlumency afforded him, what with the need to remember four names like those when he was born a Westerner.

"They were all unwillingly bound. The only ones of us to react to him were Ichiya and me. We were his first," the girl spoke mechanically, doing her best to remain calm despite what her fellow Sekirei just endured.

"Thank you my dear. One last question before we wrap things up here. Do you know of any other un-winged Sekirei your boss has interest in?"

"No, he usually picks one or two Sekirei per release that he finds out about and sends us after her. I don't know how he gets the information. He's going to do that for the next two releases, and then set us loose picking up everyone who is still unwinged."

Harry actually knew the timeline and Higa's future plans as well. He had caught glimpses of graphs and projections that predicted he would have over twenty Sekirei by the time all Sekirei were winged. With the knowledge they had obtained, Harry figured there was nothing else useful the two bullies could provide them, so he silenced both girls and flipped them over. The ropes that surrounded them were vanished, but the _Petrificus Totalus_ that prevented all movement from them was maintained. A final wave of his hands vanished the tops of both Sekirei, which exposed their naked upper torso's and revealed the Sekirei crests on their upper backs.

"Let's get this over with," Harry said quietly, not at all happy about what was about to happen. Each Sekirei had a crest, which at this point Harry conjectured was somehow magically tied directly to their magical core or soul itself. Each Sekirei was taught a spell, unique to each one, but the effect was always the same: It placed the targeted Sekirei in a coma when uttered while the crest when touched.

Musubi wandered up to Sai, took a deep breath, and laid one finger upon Sai's crest, "By the fists of my contract, my Ashikabi's peril will be shattered." The crest glowed brightly, and vanished.

Homura slowly and reluctantly walked up to Ichiya, and lay one flaming finger against the woman's crest. She took a deep breath before she whispered, "By the undying flames of my contract, my Ashikabi's fears will be engulfed in flames of righteousness." Ichiya's crest flared briefly faded in the same manner as Sai's.

Both Homura and Musubi took a step back and gazed towards the distant MBI tower. Harry removed the remaining spells on the now former prisoners and restored the tops of their clothing. He watched as his Sekirei now observed an unwritten rule of the Sekirei Plan. Any fighter who defeated a foe would remain with the comatose body until MBI picked it up. This ensured ensure nothing happened to desecrate their fallen sisters. Harry disillusioned himself before MBI could see him.

Ten minutes after their crests were taken, MBI troops in modified Black Hawk helicopters appeared and promptly took the bodies of the fallen away. They inquired as to who had defeated who, and who their Ashikabi was. They answered with their own names, but refused to give away Harry's. They figured MBI would have no easy way of acquiring Harry's name, so who were they to help them along. The group of three watched the helicopters fade into the distance, before Harry walked over to them and held them close. All three stood simply stood in place, watching the setting sun with tears in their eyes.

It was now almost seven pm. There were just three hours to go till they had to save 108.

-o0o0o-

The inn was in a somber mood upon their arrival back. They found Miya in the kitchen as she busily cooked dinner while Toyotama just looked lost and unsure what to do. Uzume was still behind locked doors with Chiho, where both anxiously waited for the return of Harry so they could go over the diagnosis in more detail.

Miya saw the group of three enter the kitchen and asked simply, "Is it taken care of?"

Harry and the two Sekirei nodded without saying a word.

Toyotama stood in confusion before she realized what the question and response actually meant. She quickly strode over to Harry, Musubi, and Homura and pulled all three into a hug saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you" repeatedly. She was worried Higa would find out about her treachery through Sai or Ichiya if they returned to him, but now that wasn't possible.

Dinner was served shortly afterwards, with Harry detailed to go upstairs and float Chiho down the steps. He conjured some pillows for her to lean back against so she would be comfortable. It was a raucous dinner, the trials and the tribulations of the day forgotten, and no thought put towards the dangerous mission they were a few short hours away from.

Miya had brandished her soup ladle no less than three times each upon Uzume and Harry as they snuck so much innuendo into their conversations they even caused the self-styled pervert Matsu to blush madly.

Halfway through the laughter (and violence) filled dinner, Dobby reappeared. "Master Harry sir, Madame Pomfrey's sends this reply and these potions." The diminutive elf handed over a piece of folded parchment and three vials of a purplish liquid. With everyone waiting with baited breath to hear the news about Chiho, Harry began to read the reply out loud.

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_Young man you are no longer an attendee of my school, and yet you still are finding obscure maladies for me to cure. As if Basilisk and Acromantula bites or Cruciatus exposure were not enough, you've now found a case of a magical disease that hasn't had a documented case in over four hundred years._

_I'm sending along with this letter three vials of a curative draught for the ailment your diagnosis identified. The first potion contains a purging draught, which will unfortunately make your friend nauseous for approximately one hour, but it will allow for the follow up potions to be that much more affective. If what I implied from Dobby is correct, your friend was being treated in a muggle hospital. It is imperative to remove all previous chemicals from your friend's body before the magical cure can take effect._

_Your friend should take the enclosed potions before going to bed each night, and by the third morning after starting she should be completely cured of the affliction. Please send another comprehensive spell diagnosis similar to the one you sent with Dobby then so I can verify she is no longer sick._

_After she has recovered, please place her on a nutrient potion program lasting two months for her to regain her strength. She should take one potion each morning with breakfast. This will help her with regaining the use of her legs as well as recover any lost muscle mass. _

_I hope your friend hasn't suffered long under this affliction. It was good hearing from you Mr. Potter. Please stay in touch, though I hope to never see you again inside this hospital wing, especially unconscious within the bed with your name engraved on the plaque above it._

_Sincerely,_

_Poppy Pomfrey_

"Well, she's as cordial as ever," Harry mused aloud. He chuckled as Uzume had crashed into Chiho halfway through the letter. She now wept in joy that there was a cure for her Ashikabi.

"Miya, I'll provide the nutrient potions for Chiho to begin taking in three days with breakfast. They don't require any special storage or anything. She may need some encouragement taking them however, they taste absolutely awful," said Harry.

"Oh I'm sure we can find ways to make sure she takes her medicine each day," Miya replied with that sickly sweet voice that struck terror in everyone but Harry.

"So what's our plan now guys?" asked Matsu.

"Well, we have less than two hours till the call goes out. I was still planning on heading to the north side of the Arboretum since it's the central part of the city. When Minaka tells everyone where to go, at least we'll be an equal distance to pretty much everywhere at that point."

"I agree, I don't see any way of positioning ourselves better than that without any additional knowledge," said Homura.

"What's going on?" asked Toyotama out loud, since she had not yet been made aware of that night's impending events.

"A friend of a friend let us know this afternoon someone tried attacking an MBI adjustor taking an unreleased un-winged Sekirei out on a rather ill-advised day trip. The girl panicked and apparently has hidden herself away somewhere. The MBI CEO apparently thinks it'll be a jolly good idea tonight at 10 PM to tell everyone that a free Sekirei is vulnerable and waiting somewhere. I think he just wants to see what kind of chaos will come out of all this. The girl is a seven year old. She doesn't deserve this. We're going to find her and bring her back here so she won't be winged by some pedophile."

"I can help if you want. I just want to be useful," said Toyotama. She spoke evenly, but Harry heard the trace of pleading in her voice.

"No, I don't want you seen yet. It'll be good for you to keep a low profile for a few days. Higa will already have enough problems when he discovers 18 and 31 are eliminated. When you throw in that you are missing, Chiho is 'dead', and Uzume isn't apparently doing her assassin's duties… Well…" Harry broke into a very self-satisfied grin, "Higa should be more than a little off-balance for a few days. No use exposing you to any danger yet. Especially if he manages to convince some of his remaining girls to go on the hunt tonight. Stay around here, relax. Help Miya beat up Matsu. Just have some fun," replied Harry with some mirth.

"Hey, that's not funny," said Matsu.

Harry looked at his watch, "Alright, we'll head out at about 9:30. Let's be down here ready to depart at 9:15 to discuss anything that comes up at the last minute. That gives us one hour. I want to take Musubi, Homura and Uzume. I want Uzume disillusioned so only we can see her though. I don't want it getting back to Higa that she's working with us either if any of Higa's remaining people see us out there. It should only take us about ten minutes to get there and get into position. That'll leave us fifteen to twenty minutes to sit and wait at the rendezvous before all hell breaks loose and we have to move."

Seeing the nods of acknowledgement, Harry got up and walked out of the room. He didn't hear Matsu say dreamily, "Gods he's hot when he takes charge."

Nor the yelp of pain she earned from Miya for the comment.

--

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

-o0o0o-

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

-o0o0o-

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

-o0o0o-

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

-o0o0o-

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)

-o0o0o-

Number 108 Kusano / No Ashikabi


	7. Life and Ice

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Chapter First Published: 2012-03-07

Chapter Last Update: 2012-05-30

**Chapter 7 – Life and Ice**

"What the heck are you wearing, Harry?" Matsu exclaimed as they all finally gathered in the front entrance of the Inn.

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that," Harry smirked. His outfit was flat black with no clear markings or identifiable devices visible. At first glance it was a standard military uniform of pants and thick protective coat, but that's where the similarities ended. Bottomless pockets adorned almost every surface of the black basilisk lined uniform, though each pocket was indicated by only a small rune that only opened when touched. He probably had a metric ton worth of various items and weapons stored weightlessly within the pockets and Harry instinctively knew where each item was.

"You'll have to show me how all this works and what you're carrying. Our uniforms were never this good when I worked for MBI," squealed Matsu like a kid in candy store.

"Maybe I'll show you what I've got hidden in my pocket someday, Matsu," Harry smirked, but the laughter the comment drew was short lived as Miya had already brought her soup ladle down upon Harry's head.

"None of that now, you have a mission to focus upon," said Miya sweetly.

"I'm going to need a metal plate installed in my head before long," grumbled Harry nosily to himself, but everyone heard him clearly.

"What you don't have those in your pockets already?" laughed Uzume.

"Come on, let's go," said Homura, as she stepped out the door. She was all business. A Sekirei was in trouble and it was her duty to protect them. Nothing else mattered in the universe to her at the moment.

"Miya, I'll apparate 108 directly here once we've found her. I'll bring Uzume, Musubi, and Homura back afterwards," said Harry.

The group began their slow trek out the door, but Harry turned back and said quietly to Miya, "And if I happen to find Mutsu, I'll be sure to bring him back for you to play with too."

The calm sweet demeanor of their land lady instantly vanished. No demonic mask was seen, but somehow the power that radiated from Miya was no less intense. In fact it seemed far worse. This wasn't Miya, the kind lady landlady of the Izumo Inn, or Miya the crazy woman who could intimidate people with weird mind tricks. This was the first time he had seen Sekirei Number 1, first leader of the Discipline Squad, and she obviously wanted her former subordinate's head for his past and current transgressions.

"You do that, Harry," was all she responded with before she turned back into the house.

"Good luck, make sure you all come back. I think I've laughed and had more fun in the past two hours then I have had more whole life," said Toyotama with a sad smile before she too joined Miya, though the dark green haired Sekirei gave Miya an extremely wide berth.

"I like her," said Uzume, as her eyes followed Toyotama walk back inside.

"Yeah, I think we can trust her, but we should still be cautious around her for a while. Especially with all the un-winged Sekirei that will be around here. I don't want to put Matsu, Shi, or 108 at unnecessary risk. Probably an unnecessary worry, but it never hurts to be too cautious."

"If you shout '_Constant Vigilance_' like you said that whack-job always did I'll burn your hair off," said Homura.

Harry ignored the comment and cast the disillusionment charm on Uzume, and then the sight spell on Musubi, Homura and himself so they could see her invisible form.

"This is so cool," said Musubi as she cocked her head back and forth, watching Uzume's semi-translucent form shimmer brightly in the moonlight.

The two kept waving at each other, doing more and more childish things. Eventually Uzume flashed her chest to the group, which caused Homura to clear her voice loudly.

"I'm going to fly there on my Firebolt, I'll meet you guys there, ok?" said Harry quickly. Homura was stressed out enough already, and Harry definitely did not want to add more strain to whatever Homura had already accumulated while she waited for this mission to start.

"Sounds good, let's go," was all Homura replied with before she leapt into air and off into the night.

"She's going to be no fun tonight, is she?" asked Uzume after a bit of silence.

"Nope, but we can have fun afterwards. Having 108 around will be so cool. It'll be just like having a little sister around," squealed Musubi who jumped away.

"Not the kind of fun I was interested in, and definitely not with 108," muttered Uzume, who quickly glanced at Harry before following Musubi.

Both sets of comments caused Harry to shudder for vastly different reasons. With thoughts of a seven year old with Musubi's energy and whatever crazy fun Uzume was interested in pursuing, he mounted his broom and rocketed off into the night.

-o0o0o-

The group rendezvoused at the north entrance to the Arboretum, and discovered they had no need to wait for Minaka to announce where Number 108 was located.

"So… fair assumption to say the Arboretum doesn't normally look like this?" asked Harry as he observed both Uzume's and Homura's bugged out eyes.

The park that Harry had stopped by and walked through during one of the days he wandered aimlessly around Tokyo two weeks earlier was gone. In its place, a massive growth of vegetation had erupted, some of it thirty stories tall. The park was overrun and there were no clear ways inside that were free from MBI goons that patrolled on high alert. The entrance they currently overlooked had three tanks and about a two dozen troops on watch.

"Number 108 is the Sekirei of Life. This is definitely within the scope of her powers to accomplish," said Homura, the awe she felt for the scene in front of her quite apparent in her voice.

"I don't know what's scarier. That one person was capable of all this, or the fact that Karasuba mentioned that Number 107 is the counter of Number 108. I don't even want to know what the exact opposite of all this is," breathed out Uzume worriedly as she gestured at the trees that towered almost out of sight in the dark.

"Death," said Homura ominously.

In an attempt to rein in the girl's now panicked thoughts, Harry interrupted whatever else Homura was about to say, "Ok, this just means we get some uninterrupted search time. I'm going to fly up above all of it, and search for the center of the whole thing. Maybe I can even spot her with my Mage-Sight. Do you three want to follow me inside or wait out here?"

"We can wait here for now, you'll be able to find her a lot quicker by being able to fly so high over that mess. We can lay low here and hopefully you can find her before it gets rough out here," said Uzume.

Harry looked at the group, "Just be careful out here, don't bite off more than you can chew if some random idiots show up, especially if it's Mutsu."

"You don't have to tell us twice. He maybe Number 5 and me Number 6, but there's no way I could stand against him alone. There's a huge difference in power and experience between us. The three of us together might be able to take him, but I really don't want to try, especially if he comes with backup," Homura said while looking up and down the street for cover.

"Just stay safe and call for Dobby if you need some additional cover. He loves crazy combat stuff like this. He'll probably show up in his own mini-me version of what I'm wearing. See you in a bit," and with that, Harry launched himself into the sky.

He checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes before Minaka dropped the hammer and sent every Ashikabi in the city here. He just hoped he could find 108 quickly. The Arboretum was huge, at least two miles per side. The whole thing wasn't infested though. The expansion of trees caused by 108 was roughly a circular growth with a definite epicenter, so Harry decided that would be the best place to start.

Harry swooped down with his Firebolt, his Mage-Sight only half turned on since he knew he could easily plow into a tree if he paid no attention here. He had always wondered how feasible the Speeder Bikes in Return of the Jedi actually were and whether to fly on a broom through a forest would be comparable. After five minutes of flying through trees in the dark, he finally determined the whole idea wasn't feasible at all. He had to slow to roughly twenty kilometers an hour simply to not ram into every other tree he saw and still have the ability to look around at the same time.

The rough epicenter of the mutated growth was still very large and he had not had any luck at all. There was no light, no magic, no _anything_ here. All he found was darkness where his wand provided the only light. There was a sense of fear in the air, one which he couldn't quite explain the origin of. It was almost like the trees themselves were had saturated the air with the primal emotion.

That's when Harry realized that if 108 had made everything like this, then it was possible for the trees to be broadcasting the little girl's emotions. There was a frightened seven year old girl behind this staggering display of power, and her predominant emotion was likely fear at the moment.

He flew down to the forest floor. The canopy was so thick he could not even see the sky. Almost no light found its way this far down, and Harry required his wand to steer his broom. After landing he walked over to the nearest tree, emptied his mind, and dropped his Occlumency shields. Then he placed his hand upon the rough surface. He may not have been able to feel the magic behind the growth, but he could definitely feel the emotion.

_Fear, Panic, Loneliness. _

But it didn't help him find 108 at all.

Harry cast a _Tempus_ into the air. 9:55 P.M. Five minutes left before the announcement was broadcasted.

Harry knew his current actions would get him nowhere fast he could feel the tingle of desperation as it built within him. He had always been great under pressure and most of his craziest and most successful ideas came at times like these. This was the time when he usually shined through with his best. He saved the stone as an eleven year old even when he had no business whatsoever even thinking he could. He slayed a thousand year old basilisk by himself , which was something that should not have been possible for one wizard. By comparison, Nundu's were an African magical cat that had never required less than one hundred wizards to subdue, and Basilisks were more feared and powerful then that mangy breed of cats. Finally, when he somehow cast a Patronus powerful enough to drive off over one hundred Dementors in order to save his godfather, Sirius…

A Patronus.

That might be the answer. If the trees were giving off emotion, maybe they could feel it too. And a Patronus was pure emotion. Plus they could be used as messengers, meaning they possessed just a slight bit of sentience for the brief period of time they existed. He figured he had nothing to lose, so why not try something different. He placed a hand back onto the massively overgrown tree he was by, and brought the recent happy memory where he kissed Musubi that morning when he woke up. He incanted out loud in steady voice, "_Expecto Patronum."_

A blindingly bright light lit up the entire tree in front of him and sank into the ground. Nearby trees lit up and faded, while trees in the distance mimicked the effect as well. But not all trees seemed to give off the ethereal light. Only trees in a specific direction did. Maybe it was a sign?

Having no better option at the moment then to follow the glow in the dark trees, Harry took off and flew about fifty meters in the direction the lights flashed. He hopped off the broom and cast the Patronus into the nearest tree again. The trees once again illuminated with light, though the direction changed course just slightly.

Each time he watched for the direction of the flash of light. He was definitely still in the center of the mutated growth, but at least now he had a direction. Dobby appeared after the fourth time to inform him Matsu said the message had just gone out. The CEO of MBI had informed every Ashikabi in Tokyo that "The Green Girl was ripe for the taking, whoever got there first wins."

"Not if I can help it," growled Harry, and he cast a Patronus again.

He went in the direction of the light three more times before the light stopped suddenly around one lone tree. Harry flew over to it and searched around its base with only his wand as a guiding light but found nothing. He walked up to the tree and cast one more Patronus just to be sure. The tree illuminated, but no other trees followed. This had to be the place. He cast his Patronus into the air, hoping Prongs wouldn't fail him, and that the majestic stag would find the scared little girl.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Harry yelled while he silently prayed this would work.

The stag burst forth, but did not give the aggressive and protective stance it usually gave when summoned. Normally the stag searched out enemies to confront. This time, it simply cantered a short distance towards the tree, and looked up.

'_She must be up the tree in the air somewhere,' _thought Harry.

Harry hopped on his broom and circled the tree slowly. The broom climbed higher and higher as he examined the trunk and the branches that extended out from it as he hoped one would hold the little girl that was in so much trouble at the moment. Three quarters of the way up and probably one hundred meters from the forest floor, he found her.

She slept in a hollowed out nook in the trunk of the tree itself. A low green iridescent sheen of ambient light enveloped her and made the whole area look quite ethereal and otherworldly. She tossed and turned in her sleep though, as if in the grips of a nightmare.

"Hey, Kusano? Wake up," Harry whispered and only nudged the girl slightly. He didn't want to startle her, because a fall from this height would definitely be fatal.

The girl stirred and lifted her head up, "Are you my big brother?" the girl softly asked, with quite possibly the most innocent voice he had ever heard.

"No Kusano, I'm not. I came here to try and help you. There are a lot of bad people coming, and they are all trying to find you. A friend of Ms Takami, the women who took you here, asked me to try and find you and get you out of here."

"Miss Takami asked you to save me? Is she ok?" the girl whispered. The fear she felt was quite evident in her voice.

"She was hurt real bad, but she's going to be ok soon. Miss Takami is in the hospital back at MBI and she's healing. One of her friends there found out what happened to you, and asked me to come get you."

"Would you like me to help you? My friend Miya is real nice and is an old friend of Miss Takami too. Miss Miya really wants you to visit so she can take care of you," said Harry. He had to get her to agree willingly. A girl with this much power could easily destroy the Inn if he were to just grab her and apparate. Not to mention what Miya would do to him if he scared her doing that.

"Ok, I'll go with you," the sad girl's demeanor had instantly improved, and a wide smile shown on her face.

"Cool, they'll both be real happy. Let me bring you on to the broomstick and we'll go down to the ground. Then I can make us travel real fast to where Miss Miya lives so she can take care of you, ok?"

"Ok," and the girl practically leapt onto Harry, which thoroughly scared the living daylights out of him. She came dangerously close to smacking their heads together, which played to Harry's deep overriding fear that the girl would kiss him and wing herself to him. He definitely didn't need to go to an early grave over something like that, because that's exactly where Miya would send him if he happened to wing a seven year old.

He quickly used magic to turn Kusano around and held her tightly in front of him on the broom. They flew down to the floor, and Harry landed with the softest landing he possibly could.

"Ok, very last thing we need to do before we go. We're going to pop over to Miss Miya's place. It'll be weird for just a bit as we travel. We'll be travelling really, really fast, and it'll feel like you're going through a straw. You know what a straw is right?"

"Yes silly, I know what a straw is. You're stupid."

'_Aren't kids amazing?_' thought Harry, who was quite aware of how much time had passed since he last talked to Dobby.

"Good, because I'm going to take you to Miya now, ok? Hold on to me real tight. Ready? 3…2…1…" and with a crack they were gone.

-o0o0o-

"Miya! I've found her." Harry yelled as they appeared. Kusano just held onto his hand as she laughed loudly, said that was fun, and asked if she could do it again.

'_Only a Sekirei child would be insane enough to like Apparition and think of it as a toy,'_ groaned Harry internally.

Miya burst out of the Inn, followed closely by Toyotama. Miya took one look at Kusano and said, "Oh my goodness, aren't you the most precious thing."

Harry leaned in and whispered to Miya, "Took me a while to find her. She was about one hundred meters in the air in the trunk of a tree in the Arboretum. I doubt anyone else would've been capable of finding her up there. I'm just happy she didn't fall out, there's no way she would've survived a fall that high." Miya nodded her agreement to that guess.

"I'm going to head back and find the others and let them know. Hopefully Minaka has no way of knowing tonight's entertainment has already ended before it could begin," Harry said as he looked at his watch. It was 10:07 P.M.

'_Yep, definitely over before it began_,' Harry said to himself inwardly and smiled despite the seriousness of the situation that still existed.

"You two good here?" he asked Miya while half turned to the side, prepared to apparate back to where he had left the three girls.

"Yes, we'll be fine. I'll get her into a bath, get her some new clothes, and some food into her. She should be just peachy after that," said Miya with a smile.

"Good job Harry. Nice to know there are some men in this world that aren't scum," said Toyotama with a smirk.

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed, nodded, and began to walk away, while he said, "Well, you just haven't known me long enough, Tama. Don't hesitate to ask Winky for help, Miya. She loves to help take care of children." With that Harry apparated back to the North end of the Arboretum.

-o0o0o-

With a purposefully loud crack, Harry reappeared in the street where he had left the girls before, which was now strangely deserted. The MBI troops had pulled out with the announcement. They probably had not wanted to get caught in the cross-fire of multiple Sekirei and Ashikabi in a race.

He looked around and saw nothing. The girls either had hidden themselves well, or they had run into trouble and had to flee. '_I hope they're not in trouble,'_ thought a very paranoid and worried Harry. '_I should have given them portkeys, damn._'

He had taken ten steps towards the Arboretum entrance nearby when he hear three soft taps nearby. A quick glance behind him saw Homura, Musubi and Uzume appear from thin air.

"We were across the street on top of the building over there, just peaking over to see if anyone would come," said Homura.

"Did you find her?" asked Musubi excitedly.

"Shhhhhh. Quiet. Not so loud," hissed Harry at her. "Yes, I found her, and she's already back at the Inn with Miya."

"Thank god," breathed Homura in relief. Uzume and Musubi were smiling as well. "Looks like we accomplished everything we set out to do today."

An arrogant voice interrupted their conversation however. "Well, well. Long time no see."

Homura looked up and narrowed her eyes as she recognized the speaker, "Speak of the devil, if it isn't Number 43, Yomi."

"Don't worry Homura, you're not the target tonight, I came here to collect the Green Girl. Like the message said, the first one there wins," said Yomi with a feral gleam in her eyes. She was a brunette with a rather ridiculous dress with oversized shoulders on. She carried a massive scythe on her back, and if she had been a male, Harry would've easily joked that she seemed to be overcompensating for something.

"She appears to not realize you've been winged," whispered Harry to Homura

Homura just sneered out loud at Yomi's previous comment, "I'd never let anyone who said something so stupid get their hands on Number 108."

"I had a feeling you would say that, but I'm on a schedule and don't have time for you," with a smug arrogant look that told everyone there she felt they weren't worth her time. Yomi looked over her shoulder.

"Akitsu?" she called out loud.

Another Sekirei appeared. The newcomer was stunningly beautiful, yet didn't seem to display any emotion whatsoever. Her most prominent feature besides her super-model looks was the Sekirei crest tattooed on her forehead rather than her upper back. She landed with a subtle grace from wherever she had jumped in from and walked lithely forward.

"Keep our guardian friend busy, would you? And don't bother coming back to Mikogami if you fail, Akitsu," Yomi sneered the last at her supposed ally, and jumped forward to enter the forest.

Harry was amazed at her arrogance as she thought she could insult a group of combat experienced fighters and then jump directly over them without retaliation. Harry simply nailed Yomi in the forehead with an overpowered stunner that snapped her head back so violently it probably gave her whiplash, and then cast a disillusionment and tracking charm on the falling body. He may have forgotten to place a cushioning charm that would have prevented her from breaking bones as she slammed to the ground unconscious, but Harry realized he couldn't always be perfect.

"Don't worry about that one," said Harry as he gestured to the air where their opponent had just been. "I already stunned her as she flew over. You guys see where she landed, right?" Seeing all three nod, Harry continued, "Uzume, Musubi, you guys go into the forest about ten meters in and hide. Act like you're chasing that acrobat into the Arboretum. Let me talk to this one with Homura. Yomi seems to treat her like dirt, and I'm always up for more allies, ok?"

"Ok Harry, but be careful. This one's strong, and she's a scrap number. So she'll be dangerous," said Uzume cryptically before her and Musubi jumped into the forest and hid.

Comprehension of what Uzume said had not quite settled into Harry's brain yet, but he couldn't afford to be distracted with a potential enemy thirty meters away on the other side of the street. Harry turned with Homura as they brought their attention back to the stoic Sekirei in front of them. She wore an open-chested ensemble in white that hung in curtains from her that was tied together with chains throughout the outfit. The metallic loops seemed to be the only thing that kept her massive cleavage from spilling outwards.

Harry walked slowly towards Akitsu in the least threatening way he possibly could manage. While he did so, he barely gestured with one of his hands and cast a translation charm on her before he asked out loud, "Does she normally talk down to you like that. That girl didn't seem very nice."

"Don't worry about her. I'm your opponent. If I fail the task my master gave me, I will be thrown away, again. Just like before. I must do this," said Akitsu as she reared back and flung a massive volley of razor sharp conjured ice at both Homura and Harry.

Homura began to charge up some fire, but before she could unleash the conflagration at the projectiles, a wave of Harry's hand turned all the projectiles into water, which splashed harmlessly against them.

"So what the heck is a discarded number," asked Harry in a conversational tone loud enough for Akitsu to know he had inquired.

"Remember I told you about her, she's like me. We were the guinea pigs for MBI. Akitsu and I were first two Numbers worked on after the first five. Only they took everything one step further with her. She can't wing. She can't have an Ashikabi. Even if she finds the one she's supposed to be with, they won't ever bond," Homura said sadly, while keeping one eye on Akitsu as she said this loudly enough that Akitsu could hear the conversation as well.

"So all the experiments they did to you, they did even worse to her," Harry said with disgust in his voice. Nothing angered Harry more than when he heard about people being abused. Since he had been a victim of both child and magical abuse, situations like this were one of the few times Harry would lose focus and make rash decisions in the name of helping others. He had already let his guard down the previous day when he confided information to Miya after he heard about Homura's abuse. The careless way he given away many of his secrets the previous day in the inn had only occurred since he had been mentally exhausted after surprise after surprise had hit him the previous day. Granted, it had turned out ok in the end, but here he was again in almost the exact same situation as the previous day, and he unfortunately had already forgotten his self-promises to be more careful and diligent.

"I swear we're going to have a party at MBI someday, and kill every adjustor we find in there after what they've done to you all," said Harry finally after his rage had barely reigned in after he encountered yet another victim of MBI's abuse.

Akitsu just stood there and listened. She made no indication she agreed or disagreed with what was said. Harry could get no read on the woman, and wasn't quite close enough to try to use Legilimency on her.

"What's your number, Akitsu?"

"I don't have a number. I am discarded. I am nothing."

"You are not nothing, and don't let them place labels on you like they obviously did for you to say that so automatically," said Harry. He paused and tried to think of how to get through to this woman. Just from that exchange, Harry realized she likely had an inferiority complex from hell, just as Harry did at eleven fresh from his relatives lovingly administered beatings.

Harry briefly glanced at her with Mage-Sight and gasped. This woman was on the same level of power as Miya or Karasuba. The magic behind the girl was insane when compared to most of the normal Sekirei, and yet it didn't look like she believed she had any real worth at all.

'_I am nothing_,' thought Harry as he puzzled over her words.

"They say things like that to make you _think_ you're less than you are. They do it because they're afraid of you. They're absolutely terrified of what you'll do the day you realize you're stronger than all of them. That nothing in the world can hold someone like you back."

The only reaction Harry received after his monologue was Akitsu's silence as she looked back and forth between Harry and Homura. He could not tell if from her face if currently pondered the upcoming possible fight or if she was merely quiet as she thought about his words and questions.

"So you have to do what your master says because he's threatened to throw you away? Like some piece of trash? You know you're more than that. You're easily twice as strong as that little girl who insulted you and jumped into the forest. You're not a thing, Akitsu. You're a person. You're a Sekirei."

"What is your number, Sekirei?" said Harry forcefully.

Homura had stood there wide-eyed as she watched Harry this entire time. She had no idea why Harry tried to talk to the broken woman. They were dangerous, unpredictable. But then again, so was Harry from what she had seen so far. She had started to understand him a bit more throughout the day. He had a natural urge and tendency to want to help people in need, even if he downplayed it. With this realization, all she could think to do was stand by his now side while he continued whatever he intended to do and protect him if it went bad.

Akitsu still remained silent. She had not attacked though, so Harry took that as at least a small good sign.

Harry took a deep breath and walked forward. He quietly asked, "What was your number before they took it away from you? Please tell me."

Harry looked into the eyes of the woman now that he was close enough and was almost driven to a knee by what he saw through Legilimency.

_Pain... Rage..._ _Inadequacy_… _and a complete absence of hope_.

"I was Number 7," Akitsu finally said, in a quiet whisper only Harry could hear.

In a voice as equally soft, that only Akitsu could hear in response, Harry said, "Number 7, Akitsu. The Ice Sekirei. You know this is Homura, the Fire Sekirei with us? Number 6. You two should have been sisters. Binary opposites to each other. Just like the Green Girl in there has her opposite with Number 107 from what I hear."

"But instead, those bastards experimented on you. Both of you. They tried taking away everything that made Homura special, but I was able to help her. I was able to undo what they did to her. Will you let me try the same for you?"

Harry had no clue if he had made any headway at all with the woman who stood before him. She stood impassively as she watched both of them, with the rage and mistrust that festered in her mind only visible to Harry through her eyes. But he also something else that wasn't there before, just a glimmer of hope.

"You won't owe us anything if you come. You'll have a place to live, eat, and even family and friends to be with if you want them. For as long as you want them. It's safe there. No one would dare attack us where we live, considering just _who_ we live with."

"And you will never have to call someone _Master_ again. Nor will you ever have to wear chains again," said Harry as he gestured to the metal links holding her clothes together. "You're not a slave, Akitsu. You're the Ice Sekirei. You're Number 7."

"And we'd like you to join us."

Harry walked up, and held out his hand to the woman. He had no idea if he could block her attack at his range if she decided to reject the offer. He figured the basilisk hide woven into his combat uniform would protect him from most of the magical damage, but he was far from certain.

Harry would look back upon this moment later and wonder just what on god's Earth possessed him to do what he just did. He readily admitted that he was nuts to have said everything he did and for taking the risk to himself and his girls when he made this offer. All he could say was that he had no idea why he wanted so badly to help this woman. When he dealt with threats to himself, he was as Slytherin as anyone could come. He designed plots within plots so that when he took down one enemy, he implicated a second enemy in the crime. But when faced with someone potentially in distress, and a damn hot one like Akitsu for that matter, Harry would still suffer bouts of Gryffindorism that worried him greatly in retrospect.

Akitsu had given no indication whether she would accept the offer or begin to rain curtains of icicles down upon them. The emotions from her eyes rapidly fluctuated from rage to hope to suspicion back to rage again. Several moments passed with no change or movement. Harry could feel the tension as it built, even a drop of sweat as it slowly went down the small of his back despite the cooling charms on his combat uniform.

Finally, Akitsu stepped forward and took his outstretched hand.

"We won't let you down," said Harry simply

She just looked at his for a moment, and gave a slow small nod. Harry smiled at her and guided her over to Homura.

"Homura, I'd like you to meet your sister. Sekirei Number 7, Akitsu," Harry said with a smile on his face.

"Hello again Akitsu, I see you've met my fearless," and after she turned towards Harry, "…and utterly insane Ashikabi, Harry," said Homura while she pulled down the mask from her mouth and smiled while she grasped Akitsu's outstretched hand with both of hers.

"Hello. Yes, he does seem rather reckless, doesn't he," Akitsu said while she looked at him. He couldn't tell whether or not in the low-light she was smirking or not.

"Everyone's a critic," Harry grumbled. Harry looked back at the entrance to the Arboretum and yelled, "Ok Musubi, you can stop hiding over there."

Musubi jumped out from the behind the gate and quickly ran up. Uzume followed her while still invisible. Musubi smiled in a very enthusiastic manner at Akitsu, while Uzume watched the whole scene in a much more guarded manner.

"Hello, I'm Musubi, Number 88. I'm a fist-type."

"I'm Akitsu." Harry nudged her at the way she stopped. "I was Number 7," she finished quietly.

"And you still are," Harry said pointedly. "Don't let anyone belittle you. And if anyone calls you discarded or anything of that nature ever again, let me know. I'll deal with them."

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself Uzume?" asked Musubi as she turned and spoke to what in theory was thin air to Akitsu, forgetting that Uzume was supposed to be there in secret.

"Musubi, no one is supposed to see or know she's here with us," groaned Homura.

Akitsu creased her brows, trying to decipher what bit of information had been let slip that wasn't being explained. Harry sighed as he saw this reaction. This wasn't how he wanted to potentially reveal magic to Akitsu, so he decided to go with the half-truth method for time being. "There's a third Sekirei standing here that you can't see because I made her invisible. It's just something I've learned I can do. She's not one of my Sekirei, but she's a good friend. We're trying to keep it quiet that some Sekirei are allied with us that are either un-winged or with another Ashikabi. Helps us to stay under the radar for the time being and avoid too much attention. Sorry for the deception on that."

"Sorry, Harry," moaned Musubi loudly to Harry, quite upset for her forgetfulness.

"Don't worry Musubi, it was an honest mistake," said Harry kindly.

"Very understandable. Thank you for telling me," was all Akitsu said.

"Well, how about we deal with Yomi over there before heading back to the inn. I'm sure our landlady will be thrilled to have her fourth new guest in one day," said Harry with a lop-sided grin.

"Yes, and _you_ can be the one to tell her, since you're responsible for bringing us all the new guests," said Homura. "And give us ample warning, so we can go to the other side of the city first."

"Details, details," said Harry dismissively as he reached Yomi. Harry waved his hand, and Yomi appeared from thin air, still unconscious from the stunner Harry hit her with.

Akitsu gave no reaction to the suddenly appearing woman, but definitely did not take her eyes from her former ally.

"So, do we just abandon her here and hope her Ashikabi picks her up, or do you want to eliminate her? You have input into this as well, Akitsu. I personally have no knowledge of the girl other than her being quite nasty to you as she left you alone here vs. two Sekirei to go chase 108 all by herself," asked Harry.

"She's part of Mikogami's blood hound squad. Just like the three person squad you and Uzume took out earlier today that belonged to Higa. Her and Mutsu have been working together for the last few months to forcibly wing Sekirei to Mikogami," said Homura.

Akitsu blinked for a few moments at hearing that the hidden Uzume and Harry took out Higa's feared gang of kidnappers by themselves. Returning to the present and the implied question, she said simply, "She is not a nice person."

"Well, that settles it then," said Harry. "Musubi, would you care to take her crest, and we'll wait here for MBI to show up and then we'll head home."

"Ok. But I really don't like this part. We didn't defeat her in battle," said Musubi sadly.

"I know Musubi, but she also would run right out again and help kidnap more Sekirei. Don't you want everyone to have the chance you got? To meet the person they react to? We don't stop her, I'll guarantee other girls will suffer cause of her," said Harry in response.

She reached down and flipped Yomi over. She pulled down the back of her dress and recited the words she did before while she lay one finger on Yomi's crest. "By the fists of my contract, my Ashikabi's peril will be shattered."

The Sekirei symbol on Yomi's back glowed brightly before it faded away.

"It's done," said Homura.

As Musubi took up her position guarding the fallen body, Harry suddenly thought of something. "Akitsu, what was your evacuation plan if you had to leave or something went wrong?"

"Mikogami is around the corner in his limousine. He is probably observing this chain of events and quite angry at the moment," responded Akitsu in her even voice, which caused everyone to suddenly turn to stare down the street.

As if the words themselves were prophetic, a limousine peeled out from behind a nearby building at that exact moment and raced straight towards them. Harry realized they weren't going to stop, and he personally wouldn't be able to escape without injury unless he used magic. Then he realized Mikogami was the Ashikabi that wanted to throw out Akitsu if she failed. He was also the same Ashikabi that had gone after Kusano to start the whole mess that night. Very quickly, Harry found his ideas of escape quickly overshadowed by those of vengeance. He transfigured a section of the road directly in front of them into a solid ten foot thick slab of concrete with his father's wand. He lifted it just slightly and threw a sticking charm underneath it. The whole spell chain took only a few seconds.

The car couldn't swerve and ploughed straight into the wall. Half the car pancaked into the concrete slab, which didn't even twitch with the sticking charm under it.

"Holy Shit!" said Homura and Uzume together simultaneously. Akitsu, initially shocked at the concrete's sudden appearance, cocked her head and looked vaguely in Uzume's hidden direction. Musubi had no clue what was going on, but happily figured another fight might happen. She ran forward around the corner of the block and took a defensive stance.

As he stepped around the block himself, Harry realized the driver never had a chance and obviously died instantly on impact. No skin off of his back, the driver was about to try and run him over. The farthest passenger door from the front of the limo suddenly creaked open and a man with an orange scarf around his neck stumbled out. He had a sword at his side and was carried a child dressed in a ridiculous white outfit.

Harry recognized the man instantly from a picture Matsu had shown him earlier when they discussed the first Discipline Squad.

Number 5, Mutsu.

Which meant that the little boy he was carrying was likely Mikogami, Akitsu's '_Master_'. '_He's the one who threatened to throw her out like trash if she failed him,'_ growled Harry internally as he realized this.

Harry saw red. He hated bullies. He had gone his whole life as he grew up completely unprotected from them, and now would never allow one to go unpunished if they crossed him. However, Mikogami now lay before them injured somewhat badly, so there was no point in smacking the kid around for his misdeeds now, even if he did deserve it.

But that certainly didn't negate Mutsu's role in attacking Takami earlier today, which thereby set off the whole Green Girl fiasco they had just endured.

Harry yelled "Scatter!" to the women that surrounded him and ran forward. Mutsu tried to hold Mikogami under one arm while he reached for the sword at his side. Harry threw a chain of repeated stunners at Mutsu, who managed to dodge all the bolts while he simultaneously kept his grip on his Ashikabi. Then, Harry watched as the hand Mutsu flailed blindly at his side closed down around the scabbard of this sword.

"Smashing Point!" he yelled as he slammed the tip of sword's scabbard into the ground. A huge pulse emitted from the sword. Harry instinctually apparated behind Mutsu. A pulse of magic preceded a huge crack that opened in the street and extended at least fifty meters in a straight line from where Harry just stood and easily reached past the entrance to the Arboretum and extended inwards out of site.

With the apparition, Mutsu had no clue where his foe was other than his Sekirei. He looked wildly left and right while trying to shield Mikogami and hold the sword at the same time. But he never once looked behind him and never once heard Harry's silenced footsteps as he stunned Mutsu in the back. Number 5 fell backwards unceremoniously while dropping Mikogami on his face.

"At least the little shrimp's nose made a pleasing sound just now, no?" laughed a clearly satisfied Uzume as she walked up. Akitsu, who had not wandered far from Harry after he said scatter in an attempt to protect him, stopped and stared when she clearly heard Uzume speak for the first time. She stood with her eyebrows furrowed and gazed at the space where she assumed the Sekirei was hidden.

"Do you think our land lady will appreciate seeing her old friend Mutsu tonight?" asked Harry while he looked at Homura as she approached the reassembled group.

"She definitely has a problem with him, that's for sure. I'm sure MBI will do something with Mikogami as well when they get here to collect Yomi, so no need to worry about leaving him here like that," said Homura.

"MBI will give medical care to Ashikabis?" asked Harry.

"As long as they still have one Sekirei out there they will. It's not very well known, but it has happened a few times," responded Homura.

""What?" shouted Uzume. "Chiho went through all that and I could've just taken her to MBI to get healed? Why did no one ever tell us about that before we left MBI?"

"Not sure, I just know from seeing two winged Sekirei take on a certain loud blond water-using Sekirei to try and forcibly wing her. In the aftermath of the fight the Ashikabi got a little too close and mouthy and paid the price." Homura sighed while she shook her head at the memory.

"Ok, I see the helicopter. I personally would rather my identity remain a mystery for the time being. Especially since I think they might not be happy with having to fish Yomi's body out of that crevasse now. No need to stick around here now. Gather around and I'll make a portkey to take us home." Harry summoned two pieces of broken concrete from the front of the car wreck. He held his hand over one and it pulsed with a soft blue light before fading. He tossed it on Mutsu and he instantly vanished.

Harry looked at Akitsu and held up the stone, "I'm going to make this piece of concrete into a Portkey. This will teleport us directly to the place we stay at. Everyone hold on tight to it and each other. It'll be fairly uncomfortable, but the trip will only last a few seconds before it's over and we arrive where we are going, ok?"

The five individuals held tight to one another while they gripped the busted piece of rock. Harry waited for everyone to grab on to each other and the stone before putting one arm around Akitsu's back. He held the other hand above the stone and said "_Portus_" as he lowered his hand to join the rest that touched it. The stone softly glowed blue before the entire group vanished from sight.

-o0o0o-

The group arrived with a loud thump and found themselves in a pile in the grass. Mutsu was ten feet to their left, still unconscious. Harry threw an extra stunner at him again just to be sure. Someone that powerful was not about to get loose if he could do anything to prevent it. Homura regained her bearings from those sprawled across the ground first.

"Don't EVER, do… that... again! That was even worse than the other way of travelling." Homura was hitting Harry to punctuate the words, while he just laughed.

"I don't feel so good now," said Musubi, turning a distinct green color.

Akitsu, who somehow remained standing on her first every Portkey, seemed outwardly unaffected by the Portkey, but said slowly, "I believe I will walk next time."

Uzume just smirked, and said nothing as Harry removed the disillusionment from her. She had survived multiple side-along apparitions that afternoon and thought the portkey was nothing compared to those and a broom ride from Harry. And her arrival at home just meant she got to go climb into bed with Chiho.

"Fine fine, we won't use Portkeys for short range travel. But if you guys want to go to Australia or the United States in seconds rather then fly there for hours, we'll see what you say then," said Harry as he walked off to find Miya and introduce their new house guest.

Miya was in the kitchen when the group walked in. Musubi had bailed halfway there to run into the bathroom. The Portkey obviously affected her more than the others.

Miya saw them all enter the room, but cocked her in confusion after seeing Akitsu standing there instead of Musubi. "Where is Musubi, and who is our new guest?"

"We took a Portkey back. Another travel thing I can do. It apparently didn't agree with Musubi and she's in the bathroom. This," said Harry as he gestured towards the quiet brunette, "is Akitsu, Number 7. She needs our help too."

Toyotama's reaction stared wide-eyed at Akitsu, but Miya only briefly glanced at the Sekirei crest on her forehead before she said, "Welcome to Izumo Inn, Akitsu. You can stay as long as you follow the three rules. No Fighting, no obscenity, and no sexual contact."

Akitsu showed the first emotion Harry had seen her give since they met the moment they walked into the kitchen. Shock. She obviously recognized who Miya really was, and replied to her offer with, "Thank you Miya. You were always kind to me at MBI, and I thank you for your continued generosity."

Miya only gave a sad smile, "It has been a long road, hasn't it Number 7? Come with me, I'll show you to your room. Winky, could you finish the food for Kusano?"

"Yes Misses Miya, I will."

"Thank you Winky," said Harry, who turned to Miya and whispered into her ear. "Can you send Homura to escort her to her room. I think you should come with me outside."

Miya looked at him curiously and obviously wondered where this was going.

Harry simply smirked and leaned in again while he whispered, "You'll want to bring your sword with. We have a guest outside who is simply… _dying_ to meet you."

Miya's eyes widened and her jaw suddenly set firmly in determination. She nodded and turned to Homura. She very sweetly spoke to him, no betrayal, or hint of the turmoil that raged inside her visible to any present besides Harry, who could only tell Harry through her eyes. "Homura, could you please show Akitsu to the room next to yours on the right. She'll be staying there. Afterwards bring her back and have Winky measure her for some new clothes and find out what else she requires."

Neither waited for an acknowledgement and they stepped out of the room into the hallway. Miya stopped at a hidden compartment near the door and pressed a latch Harry had never noticed. A small sliver of the wall moved and Miya extracted the goblin-made sword from the compartment and turned towards the main entrance with Harry at her side.

"New hiding spot?" asked Harry.

Miya smiled, "It's a beautiful sword and a generous gift. It deserves better than a closet."

The duo walked outside and approached the dark form still that lay on the ground. Miya's eyes burned with an otherworldliness that was visible even in the low light of the moon.

"He's bound, unconscious, and petrified. There's his sword," said Harry as he pointed to an object on the ground about a meter away from Mutsu. "I wouldn't touch it yourself though. I assume it's loaded to hell and back with spells from whoever put the same ones on yours and Kara's."

Miya understood and nodded, then ordered, "Make it so he can talk, but not move."

Harry acknowledged and waved his hand, the pulse that issued from it freed only Mutsu's head from the petrifying curse. Another woke him up with a _Rennervate_.

Mutsu groaned loudly, but quickly stilled. He was quickly on high alert as he realized he could only move his head.

"You seem to have found yourself in a difficult position, Number 5," Miya said coldly.

Mutsu's eyes snapped to Miya's, true fear now showed in them as he realized just how bad of a situation he had managed to find himself in.

"Hello Miya, I haven't violated your rules since I did not willingly place myself within your territory."

Harry smirked at this, if Mutsu wanted to claim the moral high-ground of not violating some agreement between Miya and the others who knew her identity, he would certainly allow it. These rules may have been all that prevented Karasuba and Miya from all out blows that would have turned all of Tokyo into a battleground.

However, Harry certainly never agreed to anything.

Miya simply stared at him. It actually unnerved Harry. She displayed not a drop of her considerable power or moved her hand to her sword. She was simply gazed into Mutsu's eyes. Harry could almost hear the unspoken challenge from Miya to Mutsu that dared him to dig himself a deeper hole.

Miya whispered, "You attacked Takami. You helped your master almost steal a child's innocence. I knew you were cruel. I knew years ago that you secretly enjoyed turning the members of the squad against each other in some sadistic game for your own amusement. But all that pales in comparison to what you and your little boy master tried to do today."

"How is the one standing next to you any better?" shouted Mutsu. "He didn't save your precious Green Girl. He was there fighting my master's Sekirei for the right to claim her himself. And then he stole a discarded number for his own gratification."

Harry growled in response. He suddenly desired nothing more than to _Crucio_ this guy's brains out through his ears. The Elder wand was already in his hand and half-way raised up, its tip a bright blood red. Its steady rise stopped however when Miya reached and stayed his hand. He looked at her, and simply saw her shake her head.

"There will be no violence within the Inn," Miya said simply. Harry's mind cleared, and then nodded in acknowledgment. He then forced himself to clamp down on his anger as best he could. He had just fallen easily for another of Mutsu's vaunted word games.

"So who's the new guy Miya. You finally replaced old Takehito, huh? He's a bit of a shrimp though, I doubt he'd even be able to last long enough to scratch that…" but that was all he was able to get out before Harry silenced him with a quick wave of his hand. He turned to Miya.

"There's no point listening to this idiot. All he knows is how to manipulate people. Without his voice, he's useless. What do you want to do with him, Ma'am?" It was very rare someone held enough of Harry's respect that his automatic circuitry to disrespect authority decided to shut down. Miya was definitely one of those individuals you couldn't help but show respect to after someone met her. That was even after he knew quite a bit of her dirty laundry. This was first and foremost Miya's grudge, and in this he would defer to her wishes entirely.

Miya was silent for a few moments and seemed to stare not at Mutsu but through him. When she finally responded, she spoke casually, almost conversationally to Harry. No trace of the vicious bloodthirsty warrior that had been held in check the past few minutes could be heard. "When a single number was eliminated in the past, it caused a widespread disruption at MBI. If instead of being eliminated, one was terminated today, it would incite panic throughout the upper echelons of the company."

Easily seeing where this statement would lead, Harry played along. "I take it the location of the discovery of such an incident would be just as important as the identity of the victim," Harry mused out loud. "As well as ensuring the perpetrators of such an event remained anonymous, furthering MBI's paranoia."

"I see you understand, Mr. Potter," she said sweetly before she turned back to Mutsu. Harry, who had enjoyed the little banter, learned something new just then. Up till this point in his life, he was unaware if bodily functions would work while under a petrifying spell. Mutsu just proved the theory correct when it became quite obvious he had pissed himself at their words. He knew there was no way he would survive whatever vengeance Miya was about to exact upon him. His mouth still flapped, despite no sound coming out. Even after everything he had done, the fool still tried to beg for his life or insult them.

"I shall return shortly, Mr. Potter. Please tell the others, not to worry," Miya said as she turned and walked toward Mutsu.

"Are you sure you don't want any help. I can make it so you aren't seen and then transport you back here instantly when you're through."

She gave a sad half-smile, walked over, and held Harry's cheek with one palm. "You've done enough today, Harry. You've given hope to three girls today who had had thought it lost, and shown two more the possibility that it may exist again. You gave me back my sister today, even if we will likely never be as close as we once were. Today has brought more then I could have ever dreamed."

She leaned in and lightly kissed his other cheek, "You've done enough. Let others carry the burden once in a while."

"I'll see you soon," she said simply and walked towards Mutsu. She reached down and easily lifted the man with one hand by the scruff of his neck.

"Be careful, Miya. I think Kusano will miss you if you don't come back."

She gave a full-blown smile that had a mischievous element that only grew the longer she held it, as if she realized something Harry hadn't. "Yes Harry, I'm sure Kusano will be the only one to miss me."

And with nary a sound, she was gone like the wind into the night, which left Harry to simply rolls his eyes. '_Get busy with the demon land lady? Righhhtttt,'_ thought Harry.

He needed that about as much as he needed a hole in his head.

-o0o0o-

Harry checked his watch as he sat down alone in the inn's lounge. It was now 10:55pm. He really should head to bed now with as long as this day had been so far, but he got the nagging feeling there were a few more things he could do tonight.

Mutsu's fate really didn't bother him. Mutsu had been party to what was essentially the attempted rape and enslavement of a seven year old girl. According to Homura, he had helped do this to other Sekirei serving under Mikogami. He wished he had ripped the names of the victims from his mind before turning him over to Miya, but it was only a small matter. He had a few ideas on how to undermine the authority of the mega-Ashikabi's at some point in the future that he would have to run by the girls later. At least one of them would hopefully be the route taken.

He wondered what Karasuba had done during the rest of her day. She wasn't aware of the four new people in the inn, maybe he should write her before going to bed. Whatever Miya was about to inflict upon Mutsu was likely to cause Karasuba some headaches for her job.

He realized the rambling nature of his thoughts betrayed his weariness. Mentally he was utterly exhausted. Maybe, instead of composing a letter, he would see if Karasuba was alone and apparate over to her apartment. He had weighed that ideas potential for about ten seconds in his head when Akitsu walked into the room.

She had changed at some point in the last hour into an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants. Despite the rather slovenly look, she looked just as amazing as she did in the revealing outfit she wore when he had first encountered her.

"How are you?" Harry asked.

"Fine. Trying to come to terms with tonight still," she said quietly after she had sat down next to Harry at the table.

"Quite a bit happened today, that's certainly for sure."

"Homura gave an overview. She wouldn't tell me who tipped you off that Minaka would make an announcement at 10pm to go after Ku."

"Ku?" Harry asked.

"108 likes being called Ku," she stated simply. She looked at him, a definite smirk on her face now, "That was rather sneaky by the way, bringing Ku here and then heading back to the Arboretum and just standing there."

"I think we were more interested in Higa's gang of thugs than Mikogami's at the time. We knew Mutsu was likely in the area though. Homura was very uncertain about going head to head with Number 5. Uzume and Musubi may have brought the fight close, but they would've had a rough time. And that's a big 'if' that hinged on the fight being a three-on-one. That's why I went right back, I knew I could take him out if he showed up."

"Well, from what I saw, Mutsu didn't stand a chance against you. Homura mentioned a bit more about your powers. They're quite amazing."

Harry ran his hand through his hair sheepishly at this. Despite years of practice, he still could not quite react normal or understand when people complimented him. He avoided a response when her first compliment made Harry think about something else that had had bothered him in retrospect.

He had noticed only a few Sekirei had that drive to kill and could do it instinctively, reactively, and have the act completed before it had even registered in their own minds that the deed was done. Karasuba had 'it'. Miya had 'it' as well. Haihane almost had it with her training, but she still needed a lot more experience. Musubi definitely didn't have it, and neither did Homura for that matter. Akitsu may have a bit more of the potential for it if she was properly trained in her abilities, though Harry wasn't sure if that was exactly the sort of mindset Akitsu needed after everything that had happened to her.

Harry then thought of an idea. It may even help bring Akitsu out of her shell a bit. "Would you like me to help you train your abilities a bit more? I was already thinking about trying to help Homura with her control of some advanced forms of fire. I'm sure I could find some pretty crazy things to do with Ice that I could teach you to do as well. Quite a bit won't have anything to do with fighting. It'll be more about you learning about yourself."

"What can you train me in?" she asked quickly, clearly interested.

"Well, not all of your powers have to be used to fight. Some elemental powers can be quiet expressive, beautiful even. And they're only limited by your imagination. Exploring them will only make you that much more powerful."

Harry reached out and took hold one of Akitsu's hands. He placed one of his above and below her hand. "Magic is all about intent. It's all about imagination. And most importantly, it's the same as life itself. Once you realize that if you remove the artificial barriers we and others place around ourselves. If we ignore what others say is impossible or that we can't possibly do…"

At this point, Harry removed his hands from Akitsu's, "You'll realize that you can do anything, and nothing is impossible."

A softly illuminated flower made of ice now lay in Akitsu's hand. It was cool to the touch, and shifted and changed colors randomly as Akitsu stared at it unblinkingly.

"You're just like me, Akitsu. You were raised and conditioned to think a certain way. That you were worthless. That you were a freak. It took me a long time to realize it was those who hurt me who were the freaks, who weren't normal. I'll be teaching you things you can do with your abilities, pushing you to become better. And, if you'll let me, I'll be helping to undo all the things people have done to you through words."

"It'll be hard. Even to this day, fifteen years after I found out I can do the things I do, I still have moments where I just need to be alone. Where I feel my life hasn't amounted to anything. Where I still hear my aunt and uncle shout '_freak_' at me."

"I'll help you going forward, if you'll help me when you see me slip."

Akitsu simply looked away and closed her eyes, and nodded.

"I know you are probably uncomfortable talking about what they've done to you, so how about I tell you a little bit about me? I think with everything you've gone through, if you're going to trust me, you should be able to ask as many questions of me as you want."

With the number of questions Akitsu asked about how he grew up, most of it pre-Hogwarts related, it was nearly one in the morning before Harry mentioned the previous day of his life. Harry's ideas on re-winging Sekirei made her shake her head in wonder, and made her curious as to the identity of the two mysterious Sekirei he wanted to protect. After she heard just how Homura had changed, it made her wonder if there really was hope for her future. Maybe Harry could fix her, and make it so she could choose an ashikabi.

"I'm surprised at your willpower. You potentially have multiple un-winged Sekirei here who will all likely want to wing to you, and yet you've made no effort to do so," said Akitsu slowly and evenly. "You realize that acting like this will only make you more attractive to these girls."

Harry bowed his head and nodded in acknowledgement. "Maybe yes, maybe no. But I won't ask any of them to let me wing them. I'll let them pursue me in this case. I really don't see myself denying any of if they flat out ask me. I'm just more worried about having a lack of time to fairly devote to each girl if more come. I've essentially got four now, no need to actively seek more."

"Right now I have Musubi, Homura, and potentially the two other girls. I've barely had time to really sit with Musubi and talk with her much since her winging and that really bothers me. At least with Homura, I get the distinct feeling she isn't into dudes, and holds a candle for someone else. I rarely have ever pursued girls in my life. Too many times they've only wanted my reputation or have been interested in my family's money. Very few of them have ever been genuinely interested in me."

"That's another reason why the past two days hasn't been all that bad I think. These girls could care less that I have money. For some reason, they seem attracted to me for reasons they can't help without even really knowing my past or caring for it once they hear about it. And it's been a long time since I've felt 'useful' I guess. I've just been going through the motions, learning things for the sake of learning. Now, I'm actually getting to put some of this stuff to use again. Like when I helped Homura this morning or hopefully helping you next."

"Speaking of which, might as well get the first part of that out of the way now."

Harry conjured some paper and pen, and set them up to write out the results of the diagnostic spells.

"Just sit there for about the next fifteen minutes. I know you'll be bored, but it takes a while to get through all the healing diagnostic spells I know."

He once again muttered spells and waved his wand over Akitsu. She listened intently to the words he mumbled for a while, but eventually gave up. She was interested at first in what the pen wrote out, but it was a bit too far away and she was never very good at English beyond the basics. Eventually the lateness of the hour began to show, and she slowly began to succumb to sleep.

Harry finished probably five minutes after Akitsu had nodded off. She even had begun to drool slightly, which Harry thought was one of the cutest things he had ever seen. Miya had silently walked in halfway through his casting and just stood behind him and silently observed him. When Harry finished, he walked over to the paper and cast two duplication charms on the documents. He surprised Miya by handing one to her.

"Did you think that I didn't notice you walk in?" he smiled a tired smile at her.

"I guess I'm losing my skills in my old age," Miya said cheekily.

"You're hardly old. You look like you're younger than me in fact."

"Such flattery young man, you'll give an old woman ideas."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of giving a woman in this place ideas. I'd be afraid of permanent injury from your soup ladle."

"As well you should," her eyes seemed to dance merrily, which caused Harry to laugh.

"You alright?" Harry asked, figuring it was best to not mention Mutsu directly.

She nodded in acknowledgment of the unspoken question being asked, "I'll be alright. You sir, however should put her to bed and then find your own. Who knows what plots you will find yourself embroiled in tomorrow."

After a half-smile, he wandered over to the table, picked up the two remaining copies of his spell analysis, and pocketed them. He picked up the still sleeping Akitsu, who wrapped her arms around Harry's neck as she settled into his arms. Harry could not help but think that she really was a natural beauty. Her hair smelled amazing as she nuzzled into Harry's neck.

'_Miya's going to kill me if she keeps this up_,' thought Harry.

He carried her to Akitsu's room without incident and wandlessly opened the door. He was able to get her into bed easily enough, but by this time she had woken up and just watched Harry tuck her into bed without him realizing it.

"Harry?" she spoke softly.

Harry looked up into the shining blue eyes of the women that had spent the last few hours with him. The most of any Sekirei he'd met so far beyond Karasuba.

"Yes?" he said as he conjured a chair and sat down beside the bed.

"Thank you for bringing me here, for giving me a chance to be something. I don't think I'll be able to repay you for doing this."

Harry smiled, "Akitsu, there is no debt of honor amongst friends."

He leaned forward and gently kissed the crest on her forehead and said, "Never give up hope." He wiped a tear from her otherwise emotionless face and squeezed one of her hands.

"Wait just a few more moments before going to sleep. Dobby."

"Yes sir, Harry Potter Sir?"

"Could you retrieve a necklace for me, Dobby?"

The elf popped away. At her half-tilted head and the glance she was giving him, he said "Yes, that was Dobby, the elf I told you about earlier. He's worked directly for me for a long time now."

Dobby returned right then, and handed him the necklace and popped away.

Harry held out the necklace, so she could see it, "This necklace serves two purposes. One is a translation charm, so you'll never have to worry about me speaking English to you instead of Japanese. The second is the crest on the necklace itself. It's my family crest. The Potter crest. Wearing this means you are under my family's protection. It means you can also call the elves to you if you're in trouble. Would you wear this for me?"

"I would be honored to wear it," she all but whispered to him.

Harry placed the necklace around her neck and clasped it in the back. She fingered the crest lightly between her fingers, and watched in fascination as it reflected light from muted lamps in the hallway.

"Goodnight, Number 7."

There was a slight hesitation from Akitsu, and then she said, "Goodnight, my Ashikabi."

Harry stared, "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I do not care if I am ever able to gain my crest properly. I know I have found you, and I know in my heart that's all I will need."

Harry stared at her after her declaration for only a moment, before he walked back over, leaned down, and kissed her full on the mouth. He felt the magic of the Sekirei bond for the briefest of moments, but then suddenly it wasn't there. They broke apart. There was confusion in his eyes and disappointment in hers. Akitsu genuinely hoped it would have worked.

"We'll figure it out, Akitsu. Get some sleep."

He kissed her one more time, holding it just a bit longer then he previously did. Their tongues circled gently around each other, tasting the other's mouth. As they kissed, Harry placed one hand over hers and created another Ice flower which glowed a dull electric blue similar to the color of her eyes. He thought of how Ku had somehow imbued the trees in the forest with her emotions, and wondered if the same could be done here. He pushed the peace and feeling of contentment he felt while kissing Akitsu into the flower. As they broke apart, Harry wiped away her tears one more time and then covered the flower with her other hand.

"Why is walking out of this room so hard?" he whispered with a smile.

Her lip twitched and head jerked a bit. Harry assumed that was as close to an outright laugh as she was capable of getting in her current state. "Go to bed, before Miya kicks your ass."

"As you wish, oh almighty Ice Queen."

She shook her head at him, definitely amused this time as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He looked up once in the hallway to see Miya there, with a small smile upon her face.

"You two are incredibly cute together. I'll let this slide this one time."

"Thank you Miya. I'll see you in the morning," he said with a smile. Turning, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on top of his head.

"Oww, what was that for then?"

"I'm sure I missed you doing at least one thing wrong today," she said mischievously while she walked away.

'_That woman is going to be the end of me,_' thought Harry ruefully.

-o0o0o-

Harry finally made it to his room, to discover that there were no intruders present. He had half expected and hoped Musubi would be there again, but figured Miya must have just come from doing rounds and swept her off to her own bed. He highly doubted Homura would ever pay him nightly visits. With his reaction to Takami's injury today, he figured there was something there long established between the two, and Harry vowed not to stand in its way if his guess was true.

He pulled the diagnostic results of Akitsu out, sat down at the desk in the room, and read. She had an obscene number of compulsions placed upon her. None of them however were woven together with any means of subtlety or skill. It should be easy to remove the compulsions, but he could not, for the life of him, figure out what they did to Akitsu

A few random potions affected her and, but that did not worry Harry. They were nowhere near the level of intensity that the alchemic loyalty potions Dumbledore had laced Harry's food with for years, but they were still somewhat strong. At least the potions were basic enough in composition that he figured they were keyed to MBI or someone specific like an adjustor and were not anything more sinister or complicated.

Finally, his eyes reached the mind scan portion of the results and read the words 'Emotion Suppression Block.' This was not unheard of despite how terrible its impact had to be on her. He felt sick as he continued reading and began seeing things he had never heard used before: Empathic Block and Psyche Response Ward.

Empaths were very rare in the magical world. Probably on the order of ten times more rare then Metamorphs like Homura. And what the heck was a Psyche Response Ward. He vaguely recalled something with psyche in the description being used on prisoners who were escape risks. It slowed their cognitive thinking down, causing them to become forgetful and make more mistakes.

Then he tried to think, how would these things prevent Akitsu from winging from her ashikabi? When he had kissed her, he felt the process try to start, but it had died before it could begin. One of these three things likely sabotaged the process was the likely culprit. However, which one was it?

He began writing down his intended treatment list. He would start with the easy stuff, which was the removal of compulsions and flushing of specific random potions still in her system. He saw no problem with the removal of the Emotion Block or Psyche Ward if it indeed was what he thought it was. It was the Empathic Block that worried him.

Empaths were rare, not only because the ability rarely manifested itself, it was because if the Empath wasn't identified early, such as four to five years of age, almost all were eventually declared clinically insane by the age of six or seven. He took out the additional duplicate copy of her results and summoned Dobby.

"Dobby, can you see if Madame Pomfrey is busy again, and see if she recalls any specific treatments related to preparing Empaths for the onset of their ability. Please show her these results as well, along with this copy of what I intended to do to treat Akitsu."

Figuring Dobby would be a while, he decided to see how Karasuba was doing. "Winky!"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Can you go over and quietly check on Karasuba and see if she's in her apartment, alone and awake? If she is, can you ask her if she minds if I stop by?"

"Will do Harry."

Winky popped away, and was back within fifteen seconds. "She is awake, Harry. She says you can come over if you would like." Harry immediately stood, disillusioned himself, and apparated directly into Karasuba's apartment.

He appeared by the table where they had spoken with each other the day before. She sat alone and absently swirled a glass of red wine while she stared out the window at the city. She intuitively glanced at the empty air as he popped into the room and began to silently cast ward spells with his wand.

When he finished, he removed the disillusionment and sat down. The moment he hit the cushioned seat, he took a deep breath and sigh loudly. She had never glanced away from where she knew he was invisibly standing, and showed no surprise as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Busy night?" she said mischievously.

Harry snorted. "Remember this afternoon? I mentioned something vaguely along the lines of '_we could always add more tasks since it was obvious we weren't trying to do enough_?" Harry said all this while waving one hand absently in the air to emphasize and quote words while he quoted his own words in a very mocking voice. However, he utterly failed to match his movements up with any words of importance while he talked, which made the effect rather comical.

She merely nodded and never stopped the slow swirl of the wine glass in her hand. She did purse her lips in an effort to keep from smiling at the sight of him being so tired.

"Well, would you smack me real hard next time I say something like that before it jinxes us again?"

"Why, what happened? Minaka was furious tonight. 108 was taken from the Arboretum and no one knows how or where she ended up." Seeing Harry's self-satisfied nod at this, Karasuba decided to reveal the surprise of the night that had her up drinking at 2 AM.

"Oh, and Mutsu's severed head was found downstairs in the building's lobby on a pike."

That got Harry's attention. Harry blinked, then blinked again, and then suddenly began laughing hysterically. Karasuba understood immediately that he definitely was involved in these events, but something had likely taken an unexpected turn.

"You're never going to believe it, but here's what happened…" and Harry began his tale. He summarized the meeting with Higa, his bloodhound gang's actions, rescuing Shi and Chiho, the fate of the three prisoners, the correct diagnosis for Chiho, the actiones that surrounded Number 108 minutes after the announcement went out, being attacked by Yomi and Akitsu and Akitsu's subsequent, the capture of Mutsu and delivery to Miya, and then the results of Akitsu's scans.

"Well," began Karasuba in reference to Mutsu. "That certainly was Miya's style years ago. I didn't expect her to do something like that now though. They certainly won't connect it with her. She'll be a suspect initially when it comes to people who had grudges against Mutsu, but those are almost too numerous to count. MBI's 'think tank' folks all are firmly of the belief she's staying entirely neutral in all this. I'm rather sad I'm not considered their primary suspect since I unfortunately have an alibi for the time-frame," she said with wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Well, I'm glad you're such good spirits at least. I wouldn't want your life to become boring either. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Akitsu's scans. They really did a number on her." Harry duplicated the paper again, and passed it to Karasuba.

"I'm drinking Harry," she deadpanned. "Can't you at least translate this or something? Honestly, making me think in English past two in the morning," she pouted spectacularly, which was a face he would've never in a million years believed Karasuba could pull off.

Harry waved a hand at the paper, and the writing changed over to Japanese which she then read. He could tell the moment she reached the mind scan portion. "Empath?"

"Yeah, I think that maybe the main culprit, but I'm not sure. It's crazy, Homura is a Metamorph, and Akitsu is an Empath. Unfortunately, I can't remove that block yet. I'll need figure out how to prepare her mind for what will happen once she starts getting flooded with people's emotions. Otherwise, she'll need to live in goddamn cave for the rest of her life in order to avoid going nuts from feeling everyone's emotions."

Harry just shook his head and closed his eyes, "She isn't going to have it easy."

Harry decided that being depressed about Akitsu's future helped no one now, "So what did you do this afternoon after you got back?"

The smirk came back full bore at this question. She was definitely highly entertained at whatever happened.

"Oh, listened to Benitsubasa complain how Natsuo isn't in love with her for a good while. She can definitely rant if she needs to. I listened to Minaka do one of his loony bin rants to the sky and his gods about his great plan for the 'golden age'."

She paused to take a sip of wine, and then resumed her slow swirl of the remaining contents of the glass. "Then listened to Minaka scream and rage when Yomi got found in a war zone with only her half-dead Ashikabi nearby. Listened to the Board of Directors go nuts an hour and a half ago when Mutsu's head got found here in the lobby. Oh, and listened to Minaka give the Discipline squad new orders."

A Cheshire cat grin appeared on her face. Harry realized he never wanted that face directed at him if he had somehow wronged Karasuba. "He figures it was Higa's massive group of Sekirei that somehow overpowered Mutsu and Yomi and then attacked Mikogami. Minaka obviously heard Higa lost two Sekirei today and must believe Mikogami was behind that encounter so Higa must have sought revenge for it."

"Our new orders are to focus primarily upon the ongoing actions of Higa and Mikogami, since such levels of violence aren't to be tolerated this early into Minaka's game. We're to interfere it they get too… uppity."

At Harry's stunned expression at the unintended positive consequences of their actions tonight, Karasuba continued. "Basically, I did a lot of 'listening' today, and laughing on the inside that you were probably behind pretty much all of it and nobody had a clue." Karasuba tipped her glass in a mock-salute to Harry at the end of this. "Hearing what actually happened from you just makes it all the more impressive."

Harry thought some wine sounded very good at this point. He waved a hand at the table and conjured a crystal glass. Another wave and the bottle rose into the air and poured him a drink without a drop spilled.

He raised his glass into the air, and nodded to Karasuba, "A lot happened today. And we have you to thank for getting 108 out as easily as we did."

She snorted, "Occasionally I'm nice when it amuses me."

Harry nodded again with a small grin. He stood up, waved a wand and Karasuba's chair expanded into a small loveseat. He sat down next to her, and leaned back, and put an arm around her shoulder and absently began playing with her hair. After a few moments, he look her in the eyes and lightly touched her face. "Do you intend to stay amused with this passing fancy for long? Or will you get bored with it and move on?" asked Harry.

Karasuba downed the rest of her wine in one gulp. She looked at him with lust in her eyes and a grin on her face, "If we weren't waiting to try and re-wing me for at least a few days more, I would throw you on that bed right this instant."

Harry merely raised an eyebrow. He responded with mock-arrogance in his voice, "It's late, and no doubt you're quite tired. I doubt you could keep up with me at the moment," Harry said with small taunting half-smile formed on his face as he finished

"Is that a challenge, Mr. Potter?" she said, eyes flashed not in rage, but instead that this was a challenge she would gladly accept.

Harry leaned in, thoroughly enjoying their banter. "The only challenge I see is being so close to you without removing all your clothes myself. I see no challenge occurring for me after that happens."

She held her poker face for only a few moments before she began to laugh uncontrollably. Finally she said in frustration, "This is so unfair."

-o0o0o-

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 7 Akitsu / No Ashikabi

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

Number 108 Kusano / No Ashikabi

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Terminated Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 43 Yomi (Eliminated) / Mikogami

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)


	8. Melting the Ice Queen

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

This will be my last update for a while. I enjoyed the process of writing a lot more with having eight chapters finished in advance and then proofing them and slowly releasing them. My intention now is to knock out at least eight more chapters and revise that group in the same manner I've done with this first eight. I think in the end it made my story that much stronger. Hopefully it won't more than the month or so the first eight chapters took.

Thanks for reading. And an extra special thanks to my beta starlightshimmer.

Chapter First Published: 2012-03-13

Chapter Last Update: 2012-06-17

**Chapter 8 – Melting the Ice Queen**

Harry woke up without a clue where he was. All he knew was that he was warm and comfortable. In fact he was far warmer and relaxed than he should be in bed. He opened his eyes to see a mass of gray-white hair nuzzled into his neck.

'_Eh?_'

The events of the previous night coalesced a bit more when he suddenly remembered Karasuba asked him to spend the night with her, with the condition they did nothing more than sleep. His arms wrapped around the woman, who was completely naked and currently held onto him even more possessively then he held her. One of her legs coiled over his, and upon consideration that there was likely more of her on top of him then there was likely in contact with the bed, he was quite glad that he was still in possession and wore his boxers.

They had talked until almost dawn the previous night. While they talked in bed, Karasuba had taken her time and slowly examined his body. She took great interest in the origins of his scars. It was a subtle torture for him to allow her to straddle his back while naked as she traced each one and inquired into events behind them. She had visibly had doubts when he told her of the existence of a thirty-meter snake that could kill you with its gaze, but she those doubts were washed away when she touched the scar that extended through both sides of one of his biceps a massive fang. The dragon tail scar on his shoulder received laughs rather than the pity due to the sheer ridiculousness of the events behind the encounter.

Harry found her easy to talk to when she did not need to worry about keeping her guard up. He saw her laugh more in those twilight hours than he had during all their previous time together.

It was when her attention turned to the latticework of criss-crossed scars on his back that her mood darkened. She swore violent oaths that if the Dursleys had not been financially ruined by Harry and died penniless, she would have travelled to England that day and gutted them all like fish.

He liked to know someone out here cared deeply enough about him to do something like that. Hermione, even as worked up as she sometimes got, never swore oaths like that out loud whenever his abuse at the hands of the Dursleys was hinted at.

Slowly he dragged his mind back to the present. He slowly caressed the smooth skin of her well-muscled back from the base of her spine up to her Sekirei crest. The crest was of particular interest to him, and he was thoroughly surprised the previous night when he saw it because of how light its coloration was. It was nowhere near the intensity of color that Homura's or Musubi's was. He really wanted to think that it correlated to how strong the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi was.

While he pondered this and continued to knead the chiseled muscles of her shoulders, Karasuba woke up and moaned into the side of his neck.

"I'll say it again, you're hired. You're moving in immediately," she mumbled into his neck as she squeezed him closer to her body.

Harry did his best to ignore just how tightly her grip on his body was as he massaged her scalp, neck, and upper back. Her wiry and tight muscles succumbed easily to his ministrations and caused her to moan and squeeze his leg between hers.

"You're an evil, evil man," she finally said.

Harry chuckled, and threw a _Tempus_ charm out randomly into the air. 6:23AM

"What time do you need to get up?"

"We have our morning spar session at 06:30."

"Well, you have seven minutes to get there."

"Shit," and she vaulted out of the bed, no concern whatsoever for her complete lack of modesty as she ran around the room and attempted to get ready.

"Since we're repeating what we've said previously, I'll do the same. You are beautiful," said Harry with a lop-sided grin.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself," she said and quickly walked over to him, reached under the covers, slipped her hand into his boxers, and grabbed his manhood. "I was impressed with the length of your…. boxers."

She gave him a squeeze and ran off again, which left Harry to groan and shake his head. While Karasuba continued to run around the room and curse the time, he fired random charms at her to straighten her hair, and simulate her having taken a shower. He summoned Dobby, who was asked to bring a small morning dose of pepper-up.

"Here, drink this before you go," he said as he held out the very small cup of liquid.

She drank it and grimaced at the taste, then her eyes widened as steam poured out of her ears.

"It's called Pepper-Up," Harry told her. "Normally it's used when people are on the verge of exhaustion, but very, very small doses like that can help wake you up in the morning if you didn't have enough sleep and have to definitely be up and pay attention. Its wise not to abuse it though, so don't expect those too often."

"Thanks," she said while she strapped the remainder of her morning workout clothes on.

"When you finish, you can always ask Dobby to pop you and Haihane over some breakfast."

"Really? He can do that for us? I'll try and ask him today or tomorrow sometime."

"Well, have fun. Don't beat up Nubs too much."

"You know, I've actually found it quite amusing to kick her around since your spar with her."

"I aim to please and inspire," Harry said theatrically. Then, without warning, Harry stood, walked over to Karasuba, and embraced her tightly.

"Hopefully this will only be for a few more days, and then we'll figure out how to make all this work," he quietely whispered in her ear.

"We better…" she whispered back as she let go and walked towards the door.

"I'll clean up a little before I leave," Harry offered.

"Don't bother, MBI will send some maids through in about an hour."

"Alright, see you later."

The door closed and he was left alone. He walked over to the bed and vanished any stray hairs that may have collected in the night. An old habit he had gained from Moody. No use in giving away from potion supplies for Polyjuice to someone.

He stood and quietly pondered his next move and realized he was still checked-in at a hotel downtown. He popped directly into the hotel room that he had not visited in two days. After he showered and packed up the few belongings that he left in the hotel, he then proceeded downstairs and checked out.

He promptly walked out the lobby doors, rounded a nearby corner and entered a nearby alleyway. A loud crack was heard as he apparated outside the front door of the Izumo Inn and walked inside. It was a state of mild bedlam inside, which calmed instantly once the inn's occupants saw him.

"Where have you been?" asked Homura breathlessly.

"Uh, I was just at my hotel room. I checked out of it since I figured I didn't need to stay there anymore," Harry said evasively. He figured it might not be wise speak about how he had slept in Karasuba's bed the previous night.

"Well, you could've told us that's where you were going," mentioned Uzume, who seemed quite relieved to see him.

"I wasn't aware that I had to. Last night I talked with Akitsu for a few hours, and then went to my room here to go over her diagnostic results. Hopefully Dobby brings back a confirmation from Madame Pomfrey soon about what I sus-"

Dobby appeared at that instant without a word, he handed Harry a note and a box of potion vials, then popped away again. Harry just stared at the spot and blinked for a few moments before laughter started breaking amongst the girls present.

"He's a cheeky little bugger isn't he?" mused Harry out loud.

"Anyways, I went over her results, and decided I needed to think about what we were going to have to do, not only for her, but for all of you. You're all Sekirei, but you're all also magical beings. So, there's some training I think I'm going to teach you all. Where you take it from there is up to you."

"Finally, I found out our main friend at MBI was still awake, so I popped directly over there and found out what happened as a result of what we did last night. Apparently Minaka is absolutely furious that Kusano isn't winged and he can't find her. He's also quite upset about Mutsu being eliminated, and he suspects Higa was behind it, since he has the largest number of Sekirei. Apparently, with Yomi, Mutsu, and Akitsu all gone, Minaka assumes Higa as being the only Ashikabi who could've raised the number of people necessary to take on all three of them," Harry finished while he waited to see if they called him out on where he actually slept.

"Well, don't run off again without telling anyone. People were very worried about you," said Homura, before walking into the kitchen. The others soon followed leaving him alone with Miya.

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting this when I got back here today."

"They care about you, all of them. You've made a difference in every one of their lives in the past day that none of them could've dreamed possible. It's only natural they worry about you as well," she said.

"Yes ma'am." Harry looked at Miya, and spoke softly, "They have no idea about the true story behind Mutsu. They think Higa somehow got all his Sekirei together and somehow ambushed Mikogami and took out 5 and 43 and then kidnapped Akitsu."

"Yes, we were lucky there," Miya nodded while she looked strangely out the window. "Anyway, it's time for breakfast."

Miya and Harry stepped into the lounge and stopped short. He realized that there were now a lot more people in the inn, but it hadn't really hit him until now. The original group from yesterday morning of Miya, Homura, Uzume, Matsu, Musubi, and himself had now added Toyotama, Shi, Kusano, Akitsu, and Chiho.

"Well, it certainly got crowded in here," Harry said aloud.

"Yes it did, we may have to come to breakfast in groups in the future," Miya observed sadly.

"No need, Dob-," but the elf had already appeared carrying four stones before Harry even had finished calling his name. Dobby handed the stones to Harry, winked, and then popped out again.

"What the heck is going on with him," said Harry in puzzlement. Harry thought for a moment as to the best way to accomplish this. He noticed the half dozen ice flowers on the table he had made for Akitsu last night still glowed and suddenly thought of an an idea.

As each woman present attentively watched him, he placed the four stones on the table. His wand erupted from his holster and he quickly engraved a few runes on each stone. He picked up the stones and walked to a corner of the room. While there, he transfigured a decorative sconce and then placed each ice flower inside on top of a stone and covered it with a shade. He then slowly repeated this process in each corner of the room.

"How are lights going to help us have more room?" asked a very confused Matsu.

"Just watch," said Harry with a fiendish smile. He pointed to each corner of the room, and they saw the four square stones briefly glow and then fade through the lamp shades. Then, with a wide arching sweep of his wand, the room expanded five meters in each direction.

Silence. No one could believe what they just saw.

"Is that enough room Miya, or should we make it bigger?" Harry spoke into the silence with a satisfied grin on his face.

"No, I believe that's plenty of room. I think we'll need to redecorate though. We seem to no longer have enough furniture for the room," said Miya absentmindedly.

"Well, there's one thing I can help with at the moment," said Harry as he flourished his wand one more time and pointed at the table that was now way too small for the room.

As he pointed, the table slowly began to elongate and widen just slightly. Eventually, the table that previously could barely seat eight could now probably seat twenty with room to spare.

"Is this something you can teach us as part of the training you mentioned?" asked Toyotama into the awed silence of the room.

"Not immediately. This sort of thing is a fair ways down the road if you want true magical training. But you're all capable of something like this if you put in the time. My main goal for now was actually going to be to try to fine-tune Homura's control over fire and yours over Ice. Maybe figure out just where your limits may lie as well."

"Well, now that everyone's here and we can sit down, we can begin breakfast," said Miya cheerfully.

She had barely walked towards the kitchen when food appeared with pops at various places around the table.

"Don't you just love house elves?" said Harry with a laugh as he moved over to Akitsu and sat down next to her.

He read the letter from Madame Pomfrey as everyone else helped themselves to breakfast. The letter was Poppy's typical mixture of venom and exasperation that once again either he was hurt or he found someone who needed extreme help. She confirmed his suspicions that everything done to Akitsu was safe to remove except for the Empathic Block. She would need to learn Occlumency to almost a master's level before it would be safe to allow external emotions to flood her mind.

The list of things prescribed for Akitsu started with a purging potion to remove chemicals, and was included in the small box of vials sent along with Dobby. "Akitsu, it might be a good idea to put off eating for about an hour. You're not going to be able to keep the food down cause of the first treatment you're going to have to do."

"What are you talking about? What treatment does she need?" asked Homura, clearly confused because she had not been required to do anything like that.

Harry hated to do this in front of everyone, but he had a feeling everyone would just hound Akitsu later if he did not. Better to explain this now so it's all over and done with, "Do you mind if tell everyone what you'll have to do? It'll save you having to repeat this to everyone else later when they get all nosy," Harry said, glaring at everyone around her.

"As long as she understands she doesn't need to tell anyone what she must undergo if she doesn't want to," said Miya forcefully.

Harry nodded his agreement with Miya, and looked at Akitsu. She looked at him, nodded slowly, and folded her hands in her lap. She seemed to shrink in upon herself as well, and this did not seem to bode well to Harry. He reached over and held one of her hands while he squeezed it in an attempt to offer support.

"Well, Akitsu has had some rather major things done to her. In fact, the only person I've ever known in my life who has had more detrimental magic removed from them is me." A few of them looked surprised at this, and a few looks of pity were sent towards Akitsu.

"Akitsu is going to essentially have four things done. First, is a purging potion which is in this box. She's going to drink it and, unfortunately, immediately vomit anything she's eaten. Then, in twenty minute increments for the next hour, she'll vomit all the unnatural chemicals, medicines, and potions that are still in her system. It's definitely not pleasant, but we need all of that stuff out of her body."

Akitsu cringed at the sound of it, and the rest of the people around the table did not look pleased either. Matsu placed her chopsticks down and pushed her food away from her.

"Then, we'll remove all the compulsions placed on her. She has much more than even Miya had, so they absolutely must come out. I have no idea what they are doing, but more than likely they were trying to make it so she would accept what the MBI folks told her without question."

Harry stopped for a moment, to gather his thoughts on the next part. He tapped a finger from his free hand a few times absent-mindedly on the table before he continued.

"Next part is rather two-fold. You'll need to undergo three rituals," Homura gasped at this. Harry gave her a small understanding smile before he spoke again. "You'll undergo two of them right away. Then, much later will be a third and final one."

Harry had to think how he was going to explain this next part. He knew she would need to learn Occlumency, so he decided to tackle that first.

"Dobby?" the elf popped in immediately behind Harry and Akitsu.

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir?"

"Can you bring me my Mayan school book on Occlumency, please?"

"Yes sir, Harry," and Dobby disappeared and reappeared almost instantly with a book in his hand.

"Stick around for a second Dobby," Harry asked, then turned his attention to the book. Harry waved his hand over the book, making two direct copies of it in a flash of green light. He handed the original back to Dobby with his thanks.

Harry then set one of the copies aside next to him, then picked up the remaining one. He placed his hand on it for almost thirty seconds. The entire time, the girls all watched as the book glowed with a bright red light. When he removed his hand, everyone saw the book's cover had changed from English to Japanese. Then Harry placed his hand on the book again and it glowed green for a brief moment before an exact duplicate of the book seemed to shoot out of the original. He asked Akitsu if she could pass the books down and around. He made copies till everyone had a copy and there were ten extras piled up.

"Occlumency is a skill that's very important for magical beings like us to learn. There are quite a few specific kinds of magic that can only be performed if you have a firm grounding in this subject. More importantly at the moment, it's a skill that's going to be vital for Akitsu to master for her ongoing health."

"Currently Akitsu has three very powerful blocks and wards placed upon her. The first is an Emotion Suppression block. Basically it means, she can never get overly angry, sad, or happy. That's the first thing we're going to get rid of. It'll be painful like Homura's was, but the block isn't nearly as complicated and won't be nearly as hard to remove. The second thing we're going to get rid of is a bit shocking. It's called a Psyche Response Ward. They're normally put on dangerous and highly intelligent inmates in prisons. It was created specifically for those who are at a higher level of risk of escape. The ward makes the victim think just a bit slower and can cause them to be forgetful. We'll remove that second."

Akitsu had closed her eyes at this, and was gripping Harry's hand very tightly, cutting off the circulation in his hand. He just grit his teeth and bore it. Akitsu needed an outlet, and he thought he would gladly give up feeling in his hand for the time being to help her. Breakfast was completely forgotten at this point by the looks of shock and disgust reflected on every face in the room.

"Then there's the last one. I think this one is actually the source of all your problems. I could be wrong, but I don't see how the others could be preventing you from winging to an Ashikabi. MBI obviously doesn't like 'special' abilities on Sekirei. They went above and beyond sabotaging Homura so she couldn't use her Metamorph ability. They did the same to you, Akitsu. You're an Empath."

All around the room, Harry got looks of confusion at this statement. He could tell none of them understood what this meant, including Akitsu, who had opened her eyes and now looked at Harry; a silent plead him to continue.

"Empaths can feel other people's emotions. It's initially a subconscious thing that you'll need to learn to control. The subject of this book will help, and you need to learn this before I remove the last block on you."

"Why can't it be removed now?" asked Akitsu. Harry knew she had latched onto Harry's statement that this thing likely kept her from winging and being considered normal, so he had to make sure she understood the risks.

"I know you want to have it removed now, but here's why we should wait a bit." To the room at large, Harry spoke, "Let's say Akitsu has her Empathic block removed, and she walks into this room for breakfast and sits down with all of us here. What happens to her if she has no training?"

Harry then turned, one by one to each person in the room. "She immediately feels that I'm angry, and ready to head over to MBI and kill every last adjustor in that building. She would feel my blind rage that I'm honestly barely holding in each time I think about what they've done to her. From Homura, and I'm just guessing here, she would be feeling my some sisterly sympathy, since she too had a core part of her 'blocked' cause of MBI. If she focused on Miya, she would be feeling likely some motherly feelings and a desire to take care of her, plus a bit of the same feelings I have to go and exact some vengeance on whoever did this to you."

Harry glanced at Ku, and almost chuckled out loud. This caused every person at the table to follow the direction he looked. The little girl had been playing quietly with her food while pretending it was an airplane. Miya glanced at her and just barely contained her giggles.

"From Ku? Well, I'm sure Kusano isn't very interested in this conversation so Akitsu would get boredom and a little bit of desire coming from probably wanting to go watch television. Toyotama and Shi would likely be exuding confusion and some curiosity since they aren't as familiar with what we had to do for Homura. Musubi and Uzume are probably feeling about the same thing as each other, thinking ways to try and cheer Akitsu up. Matsu probably has a bit of curiosity with a morbid edge to it, since she's probably thinking of running upstairs and finding the names of the adjustors that worked on both Akitsu and Homura and then providing the names to Miya and myself.

Harry took a deep breath, and continued "And then we get back to Akitsu herself, who has just sat down..." Harry took a deep breath and looked at Akitsu who looked lost at his explanation.

"..and felt every single person's emotions in the room at the same time all as if they were her own emotions."

Harry looked around and said, "Do you all have any inkling of what life will be like for her now going forward? Most Empaths have to be identified before the age of four or five to begin training. Otherwise, it's almost a proven fact that if they aren't found early, Empaths usually end up insane by the age of seven because they can't deal with feeling all the emotions of other people they're around at once."

Wide-eyes greeted this. Akitsu slowly shook her head in denial with her eyes closed so Harry reached over and hugged her.

"That's absolutely not going to happen to you though," Harry said firmly and evenly to her. "That's what this book is for. It'll teach you how to organize your mind, how to control your emotions and deaden the influence other people's emotions have on you until you allow them to be felt by you."

"Once you've learned this, we can take the block off. Then you'll be fine."

Harry looked again at the room at large, "It's also why I gave the book to all of you as well. So you can all help her practice and be aware of just how hard what she has to learn is."

Looks of comprehension and understanding were slowly seen around the group, along with fierce looks of determination. Someone had harmed their sister. These Sekirei would make whoever was responsible pay and they would be there to help her every step of the way.

Harry let go of Akitsu and turned to the others in the room. "Akitsu will also require you to be aware of her needs going forward. She is going to naturally like quiet places and enjoy solitude, because that means she can open her mind up and not worry about being assaulted by the emotions of others. It also means she's going to absolutely hate going into public, since the effort of blocking out dozens, if not hundreds, of people will be very tiring for her over a long period of time. You have to be considerate of her. If you see people in the house having an argument around her, you need to be understanding if she runs off. It's because she'll feel physical pain from feeling anger and other very strong emotions in such close proximity."

"Akitsu isn't the first nor is she likely to be the last one of us to have been abused. I went through hell to have nine blocks removed from me when I managed to finally escape England and all the people who wanted to control me there. Homura went through hell and back yesterday morning to get her block removed. I'm sure we're going to encounter more Sekirei with amazing abilities that MBI thought needed to be controlled. Just be patient and understanding of Akitsu as she goes through this, please."

Harry turned to Akitsu and asked, "You want to step out? Get some air for a moment? Or if you want, you can take this potion now and get started on all this."

Akitsu's still had not let go of Harry's hand, and she now had a vice-like grip upon it. He sighed and stood up while he lifted her hand with his. She subconsciously stood, her face dazed as if in shock. Harry turned to Miya, who gave him a look of understanding.

"I'm going to take her into the other room and help her deal with all this. Let me know if you all need anything," and he led Akitsu out of the room into the bathroom in the hallway.

After he conjured two chairs in front of the toilet, Harry led her over to one and sat in the other. He waved an absentminded hand at the door and it shut with a soft click. He had to get through to her if she was going to climb out of the despair he knew she now felt.

Harry reached up with one hand brushed some of her hair behind her ear and stroked her face. She still had not released his hand from the titan-like grip in which she had held it since the conversation began. Eventually Harry said, "Everything you're about to go through, I've done already. I had to take purging potions, had spells and blocks removed. I even had to have memories that were stolen from me restored. And above all I had to learn Occlumency to give me better control of my magic."

"I know this will be hard. I know it seems like the day where all this stuff is done is so far away. I had to do this without anyone. I was on the run from England and half-in hiding. I was completely alone. All I had was a bunch of doctors who checked on me every few hours while I was laid up in bed, and that was after I woken up from a month-long coma after having nine blocks removed. But I'll be right here with you when you go through it all."

"Can you do this if I'm right here with you?"

Akitsu looked at Harry and then looked back down at the vial in his hands. Her voice sounded very far away when she whispered, "I don't know."

Harry lifted her chin up and looked into her eyes, and said with a strong clear voice "Come on Number 7, I said I wanted to be your Ashikabi. You are going to be my Sekirei. It means you don't let me give up. And it means I won't let you give up either."

Akitsu seemed to look through him, as if she stared off into something in the distance. Her eyes were unfocused for a few brief moments while she breathed in an out. Eventually she closed her eyes and reopened them, looking at Harry so intensely he felt like she now gazed into his soul.

She eventually nodded and said, "Ok."

She reached for the vial and uncorked it. She closed her eyes, hesitated for smallest fraction of a second, and downed the potion. Harry pointed a wand above them and did a modified _Tempus_ that would display a sixty-minute countdown timer. After only a few moments, Akitsu retched into the toilet.

Harry did his best to comfort her during the ordeal. He held her hair out of her eyes and performed frequent freshening charms between bouts. Most of the time, he simply sat behind her and held her. Towards the end, when the foul MBI chemicals and drugs expelled took on an appearance very near to black sludge, she finally seemed to be on the verge of breaking down in tears. It was one thing when they told her she was broken constantly, but to vomit this black tar they purposely placed inside her was almost too much. Throughout the ordeal however, Harry never left her side and whispered comforting words to her.

Eventually Akitsu finally fell into Harry's arms. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically after the hour ended. They sat quietly for a long time and held each other in the aftermath of her ordeal. Eventually Harry helped her up, and they slowly walked to the bathroom door. They attempted to leave the bathroom, only to find their way blocked. Every girl in the inn sat outside the door to the bathroom and waited for Akitsu and Harry to emerge. Each, in their own way, silently giving their support to Akitsu as she endured.

Every Sekirei present felt helpless while Akitsu persevered through what MBI had done to her and they could not do anything about it. Harry forgot to silence the door in his distraction because of his worry for Akitsu. He assumed now they heard every sound and word spoken between the two while they were inside. One by one, they came forward and hugged the brown-haired woman. Each embrace telling Akitsu in their own way they would be there for her in the future.

As they made their way back into the kitchen, Harry gave her the next round of potions. "These are some nutrient potions. Some of the tests indicated you went a decent period without food. These will help balance out a few things in your body. You'll need to take one of these with breakfast each day for the next week."

Akitsu drank the potions and grimaced at the taste. Harry then called for Dobby and said, "Dobby, Akitsu and I would like some breakfast if you still have some available."

He turned to Akitsu and acknowledged her look of disgust at the mention of food when he said, "I know you probably don't want to even look at food after going through that for the last hour, but you need to get some food down."

Dobby reappeared with breakfast for two, though they were hardly alone in the room. Most of the other girls had now reentered and were quietly conversing amongst themselves.

After eating a few bites, Harry stood up again and pulled out a wand.

"Ok, while you're eating I can do the next part. I'm going to remove the compulsions they put on you. You may feel a bit disoriented as they are removed, but there will not be any pain at all."

Harry pulled out his wand, and raised his eyebrow, waiting for an acknowledgement from Akitsu. She nodded, and Harry went to work. Madame Pomfrey had mentioned that _Finite Incantatum_ should take care of most of them, but he may need to try a few more powerful spell finishers. He tried the three most powerful ones he knew and his efforts were rewarded by Akitsu looking quizzically around the room.

"That certainly feels a bit different. Lighter somehow."

"Good. That means you're strong magically and you can notice the difference between the way you're supposed to feel and the way those spells were trying to influence you to feel and think. We'll stop here for now. I'll need to set up rituals for the binding and ward we're going to remove. That'll take a bit to check and double-check them and make sure they're done correctly. For now, after breakfast you should rest a bit. Maybe even do a few of the beginning Occlumency exercise to help you relax."

Harry sat down again and finished the plate of food in front of him quickly. After the empty plate was pushed away from him, Harry decided to shake things up a bit.

"Homura!" Harry yelled unexpectedly.

At the sound of the yell, Homura jumped in her chair. She glared at Harry, who just smiled evilly.

"Homura, I do believe I mentioned that today we would be playing with fire," Harry said while he simultaneously conjured one of the blue-ball flames that Hermione loved so dearly. He distractedly tossed it up and down with a shit-eating grin on his face which made a shiver go up the spine on every girl in the room.

No one present wanted training if that was how he was going to look at them.

"Let's go babe, maybe we'll even work our way up to Fiendfyre today," Harry said as he got up from the table.

"What is Fiendfyre?" Homura asked cautiously as she got up and slowly walked towards Harry and the door. As she walked she barely noticed everyone's attention was riveted upon her and Harry.

"Oh nothing, just cursed fire. It normally kills whoever summons it," and with that ominous response, Harry walked out of the room.

He successfully held in his laughter as Homura tripped and nearly fell after hearing his reply.

-o0o0o-

Homura looked absolutely exhausted. She had never before used or controlled as much fire as she had done in the past hour. Harry was trying to gauge just how much she had left in her when he saw her take a knee. She looked at him a pleading look in her eyes while she breathed heavily.

"Ok hot stuff, you're done. You did really well. Let me help you up," he waved a hand and Homura rose steadily and floated right into him. Before she knew what happened, Harry gave her a kiss which unleashed her Norito and gave her a second wind.

Harry could actually feel some of his magic transfer to her, so he did his best to allow it to occur naturally. After about thirty seconds, and numerous catcalls from the women who watched behind them, they broke apart.

"Feel like you could go a few more hours?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I could actually. No one ever said that would happen. What the heck was that?" asked Homura a very confused Homura.

"Said what would happen?" asked a sweet voiced Miya, soup ladle brandished like samurai of old might hold a sword.

"I wanted to try something," said Harry, ignoring the instrument of doom in Miya's hand. "I wanted to see if a kiss and the subsequent Norito would affect a Sekirei that was approaching magical exhaustion. It did and I actually felt some of my magic go to Homura."

Whichever answer Miya expected from her question, Harry's response was most certainly not it.

"I've certainly never heard of such a thing occurring before," said Miya.

"I think we're in uncharted waters now. Sekirei are magical beings, and I doubt any other Sekirei are bonded to full-fledged wizards. I bet most are winged to squibs like Chiho. Anyways, you're done for today Homura. Excellent job. I think you should also see if your friend Takami is out of the hospital and contact her too."

Homura nodded in acknowledgement and moved off to the house. Many of the girls had sat outside and watched, although a few such as Akitsu were off to the side engaged in the initial steps to Occlumency.

"Could you have ever imagined two days ago this place would have this many people in it?" he asked Miya, who had not moved away yet.

She shook her head, and looked at the assembled group of Sekirei, "My husband had a dream for this place, to never refuse to take in people in need. It's surprising that so many Sekirei have found it. Sometimes I thought his dream would never become reality, but thanks to what you've done, it has."

She walked off joining Toyotama and Musubi who were working on their sparring forms. Uzume and Matsu were inside, and Shi and Akitsu were off by themselves. Akitsu looked to be working on her Occlumency, but he could not get a read on Shi. He had not actually spoken to the girl beyond the rooftop yesterday, so he figured now was as good a time as any to initiate a conversation.

Shi was a pretty girl, with dark messy hair, and a body a little shorter and smaller then Musubi. They even wore similar outfits, with the main difference being longer sleeves for her to hide numerous knifes and daggers. She had a withdrawn look, and had definitely chosen to sit in a place within the yard where she could see everyone and everything. The three days on the run had definitely taken their toll on the girl and increased her paranoia.

He walked over, but when she saw him approaching she visibly tensed up. He figured, despite everything had happened, she was probably still scared out of her mind someone would force her to wing against her will. He walked up slowly and cautiously sat beside the girl under the tree.

"Hey, I don't believe we've been properly introduced yet. I'm Harry Potter," he said while he smiled gently and held out his hand.

She hesitated, before she slowly held his hand with a very light grip. "Shi, Number 40."

Harry lost half his smile and looked rueful, before he leaned back against the tree and stared off into the yard. "You should relax, you're safe here. No one in their right mind would attack Izumo Inn so long as Miya is here. I would actually like to see how long someone lasts if they did come here. My guess would be about thirty seconds, tops. Maybe forty-five if they're really lucky and brought a couple dozen people with them."

"And then, if some act of god actually occurred and they got past Miya, they would have to get past me. I know you're still scared. Remember, Matsu and Kusano are here and un-winged as well. Hell, Matsu has been on the run from MBI for years. Every person here will defend you three if someone comes here trying to take you."

Shi nodded, pulled her knees up to her chest and put her head down to rest.

"Well anyways, I just wanted to say hello. If you're looking for something to do, I'm sure Miya would spar with you. She's quite good, and you'll learn a lot. Oh, and if you have time, bring your weapons by for me to see. I want to see if MBI did some subtle sabotage to them like they did to Miya's and a few other people's weapons and belongings."

She looked up in confusion, and eventually slowly nodded. She took out a dagger and looked at it, holding it gingerly, as if it had been dirtied in the past few seconds.

"I'll talk to you later," Harry said quickly. He did not really feel like pressuring any of these girls into talking to him, especially when he already had plenty who wanted some of his time.

-o0o0o-

After leaving Shi to her quiet contemplation, Harry walked back around to the front of the Inn to enter the door. When he came around the side of the inn and had a clear view, he saw a man and a blond woman enter through the front gate. The man, just barely out of his teens, was decidedly normal looking. The woman however, seemed to be his exact opposite. She had an old style formal coat on over a white dress with long sleeves that was only barely adequate to cover her chest's modesty.

The boy walked without any real self-confidence, and definitely deferred to the woman. '_A Sekirei dom / sub relationship?_' laughed Harry internally.

They saw him coming around the edge. The boy seemed wary, and the woman now definitely moved in front of him to try and protect him if needed. Harry fired two subtle translation spells on them as the girl spoke.

"Who art thou? Why dost thou approach me?" the girl spat at Harry arrogantly.

'_What the fuck?"_ thought Harry as he stopped short of the strange pair. '_Who honestly talks like that?_'

"It's typically polite to introduce yourself before demanding to know who others are, especially when you are a guest on this properly," Harry said none too kindly. He definitely didn't feel like backing down from the woman.

Her eyes flashed, and Harry felt a wave of uncontrolled magic pass over him. '_Oh she's strong, but she has the maturity level of a five year old, despite all her haughtiness._'

"I am Tsukiumi, Number 9. And this is my Ashikabi, Sahashi Minato," the woman said as she looked at Harry expectedly. Clearly she felt that her previous question should be answered now.

Harry however, blinked at Minato's family name. Coincidences did not occur in Harry Potter's life. Here was a Sekirei bonded to a man with the same family name as one of the adjustors who was Homura's friend. The same last name as the adjustor who was attacked while taking Kusano on an ill-advised day trip the previous day.

"Sahashi, eh? Are you any relation to Sahashi Takami?" Harry asked with his head cocked, giving a rather laid back aloof look.

"Uh," Minato stuttered, shocked by the unexpected question.

'_Oh this is bad. How in the world is this wimp going to handle a chick as dominating as this?_' laughed Harry to himself.

Minato finally gained some measure of composure and continued to answer, "Yes she's my mother. I haven't spoken to her in a few days though. She cut me off from my allowance after I failed my university exam a third time. We just lost my apartment because I'm not allowed to have a woman staying with me and Tsukiumi was a bit loud this morning."

Harry nodded his head and filed the information away, "I'm Harry Potter. I'm an Ashikabi with two Sekirei bonded to me who are inside the inn. I'll warn you both now. There are a fair few un-winged Sekirei here under the protection of both the owner of the Inn and myself. Do not cause problems here."

"Thou darest threaten my Ashikabi. Monkey, thou thinks thy will still draw breath after thine insult?" The blonde woman practically foamed at the mouth as she nearly growled this at Harry.

With a polite shake of his head, Harry simply gave an over-the-top yawn and lazily said, "I suggest you settle down Number 9. Violence is not tolerated here by the land lady. She will not be pleased if you threaten anyone here."

"A mere land lady does not scare me, for I am Tsukiumi, the most powerful of all Sekirei now that I have my Ashikabi. I will do as I please," she finished with a satisfied smirk.

Harry blinked, and chuckled softly. "It's your funeral if you keep that attitude," said Harry while he shook his head.

With that, Harry walked away and headed inside. He no longer felt the need to deal with the conceited bitch any longer. '_Let Miya worry about what to do with her._'

As he walked inside, Miya passed by, somehow already aware she was needed, and was on her way out to greet Tsukiumi. "Good luck with that one out there. She's strong, but has some serious control and trust issues," warned Harry.

Miya stopped, nodded and continued out the door.

'_What do I do now?_' thought Harry. Maybe he could just go sit by Akitsu and relax for a bit or watch Musubi spar for a while. He took a few steps back towards the back yard of the Inn when he realized he had stuff yet to finish. After he turned around and headed up to his room, he cleaned off the remains of the notes for Homura's ritual and started the setup he needed for Akitsu's.

After only a little bit of research, he discovered the Emotion Block was quite simple to remove. Dobby found books that had multiple ways to deal with the block. Harry was privately amused that the secretive, valuable and ancient tomes from the Potter and Black libraries all showed rites as complicated and likely as painful as Homura's earlier ritual. Newer books that he had purchased from North and South American sources detailed a small rite with a very small runic circle. A few minutes effort would be all that was required to remove that block from Akitsu. It actually looked like there would not be much pain involved, if there was any at all.

However, the Psyche ward was different from anything he'd run across used on people before. It was a ward, so it was not actually magic directly from another wizard that had been placed upon her. Someone had actually drawn runes on her to enchant her very skin to cast the magic that would be influencing her. The runes were self-sustaining and drew upon Akitsu's own magic. So to tear down the ward, Akitsu would have to exhaust herself magically before Harry could siphon the remaining power out of the runes. Once accomplished, the runes would be erased when they were underpowered.

'_We could probably do that after a sparring or training session_,' mused Harry. All he would need to do is find the runes on her body, which hopefully wouldn't be that hard. The two of them would probably end up enjoying it if they were in some obscure location.

He went straight from there into Akitsu's room and began the setup of the ritual to remove the Emotion Block. The more he thought about the ritual, the more something stuck out in his mind. How long had the block been in place? He remembered using passive Legilimency on her on the street the previous night and being shocked by the rage bottled up by the woman. He needed to make sure he helped her in case she let her emotions get away from her after this.

"Dobby!"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter Sir," the elf was jumping up and down in absolute glee. Harry had called Dobby more times in the past few days then he normally do in the same number of months. The elf loved having so much to do.

"I need a few calming draughts Dobby. Actually, I probably need a whole hell of a lot of them. Some dreamless sleep potions would also likely be good to have on hand here as well."

He was able to quickly finish the circle for the ritual. This particular one was even more surprisingly simple then Harry had thought it would be. With that complete, Harry left Akitsu's room and locked the door using magic to ensure no one entered and messed up the runes.

Akitsu was still in the backyard, under a tree in the opposite corner of the yard from Shi, who also looked like she hadn't moved. Akitsu wore a simple baby doll t-shirt and sweat pants, all of which hugged her incredible curves in ways that most women could only dream.

She felt his approach and gave a small shy smile. "I like these exercises. They seem quite easy yet they feel right. And I feel so much better now than I did this morning. I couldn't tell right away, but it really does feel like something heavy has been lifted from me."

"Good. Well, get ready for more. I have your first ritual ready," the statement was briefly met with a moment of panic from Akitsu. No doubt she had been prepared by Homura to expect a lot of pain from the ritual, and likely was not looking forward to it.

"The emotion one is incredibly simple. It should only take a few seconds and only requires you and me. You don't even need to change clothes or anything. It's all set up in your room and ready to go. Because of its simplicity, and the fact that only I need to be there to break this, I doubt this will be as painful as the one Homura had to go through, but don't tell her that," Harry said with a smirk and a wink.

"I think we can take care of the Psyche ward as well. It's a bit different in that it doesn't require a ritual to remove. Someone has drawn runes on your body somewhere, and your own magic has since been powering them to cast their spells on you. I need you to magically exhaust yourself just as Homura did this morning. Then I can drain the remaining magic from the runes and then remove them. The whole process should be pretty painless, except for me making you show me your ice stuff until you fall over that is," he said with a smile.

Harry pulled out a piece of paper, "Have you ever seen these symbols on your body anywhere?"

Akitsu looked at the symbols for a few seconds before nodding. Pointing at the center of her Sekirei crest on her forhead, she said "Here, they appeared after I woke up one day with a Sekirei crest over them. That's when they first called me broken."

Taking out his wand, he examined the runes and, for the first time, the crest itself. Harry was shocked when he truly began looking at her crest. He had spent a lot of time the previous night and this morning tracing Karasuba's crest. Akitsu's crest was nothing like that. In fact it wasn't a Sekirei crest like Homura's, Musubi's, or Karasuba's at all. It was literally a normal tattoo on her forehead. "This isn't a Sekirei Crest, Akitsu. It's a normal Non-Magical tattoo. Would you like me to remove it?"

"You can get rid of it? Yes, please do so. It's the thing that announces to the world that I'm broken in everyone else's eyes," she said with a bitter voice.

"And you know me," said Harry. "I don't believe you're broken for one minute. To me, you are perfect."

Harry raised his wand and bit his lower lip while he tried to remember the tattoo vanishing spell. He had been forced to use it once before, when Tonks had taken him out drinking one time the summer after Sirius had died. He had woken up back at the Dursleys with "I'm Tonks' Bitch" emblazoned on his ass with pink hearts surrounding it. The first thing he did when he reached Hogwarts for his sixth year was to go to the library and find out how to get rid of it.

The spell worked like a slow eraser. The crest slowly faded until nothing could be seen but a set of previously unnoticed light golden runes in a circle in the middle of her forehead.

"Here you go, take a look," he said as he conjured a mirror for her to look at herself with.

She took the mirror from him with a slight tremor in her hand. She slowly raised the reflective surface up and simply stared at her image in the mirror. It had been so long since she could see her forehead, unblemished and clear. She ignored the small runes centered there because she knew Harry would get rid of those soon.

She put the mirror down, and turned to him and gave the first true smile he had ever seen her give. Her quiet voice was almost inaudible when she simply said, "Thank you."

Harry just smirked at her. He actually looked forward to seeing what Akitsu could do. She had only thrown one blast of ice at him the previous night. That was nowhere near enough of a demonstration to understand her true capabilities and offer suggestions.

"Oh you think we're done do you? Come on Ice Queen, let's throw some ice around, and maybe we can 'accidentally' freeze the new tenants that Miya talked to before I came out here. If there's anyone who needs to slip on a sheet of ice and fall on her butt, it's that new girl."

Harry ran out into the middle of the yard and yelled, which gathered the attention of everyone nearby and half of the inn, "Come on Ice Queen. Hit me if you can!"

She smirked to herself. While she knew she would never be able to hit him, she raised her hand up and flung it forward. The quick action threw hundreds of icy spears at Harry.

The icy curtain of death simply crashed and shattered against a suddenly visible wall of dirt that sprang from the ground. The sound of the ice and rumbling Earth had brought half the house running, and the rest were right behind her.

"You took too long to conjure that. You don't need your arms to throw ice. You telegraphed your intentions to me seconds before the first piece of ice appeared. Magic is all about intent. You could stand there combing your hair if you wanted and still throw ice at me. Use your mind, not your body."

Akitsu considered his words, slightly cocking her head to one side. Suddenly she smirked as twice the amount of ice as before suddenly appeared and hurtled towards Harry.

'_Now this is better_,' thought Harry with a smile as another conjured wall protected him from imminent death.

-o0o0o-

"You sure… I didn't overdo it?" gasped a barely standing Akitsu as Harry led her to a chair, followed by a scowling Miya and every other girl in the Inn. Even Tsukiumi and Minato, who both stared open mouthed at the Ice Sekirei's impressive casting endurance, didn't seem thrilled with how Harry egged Akitsu on and on to continue casting spells.

"Yes, I'm quite sure. I needed you this exhausted so I can siphon all the magic currently in the runes down to a point where I can remove them permanently. Then, no more Psyche ward on you. Only way to do it I'm afraid," Harry said with a sorry smile.

Akitsu had spent two and a half hours under Harry's watchful eye in the backyard. She had conjured and threw ice at Harry in some form or another almost non-stop. Her directions had been very simple. Create small shards, large spears, and any combination of ice in between. She had to build structures such as walls and igloos, and then turn that ice into spears to attack a conjured target Harry produced. He had talked to her the whole time while he half-concentrated on shilelds for himself and vanishing the remains of the spells. The whole time they were out there, he tried to get Akitsu to let go of her preconceived notions of how her abilities worked.

Harry looked at all the girls who had followed them into the room and were now crowded around while they hoped to watch more magic. "Ok everyone, I do need a bit of room and I'm on a timeline now, I have to do this before Akitsu's magic starts recovering. I need quiet."

Harry pointed the Elder wand at Akitsu's forehead and began issuing the lightest ward draining spells he knew. Each of the symbols in the circle on her forehead needed to be individually drained, and Harry would have to return back to the initial one to drain them all over again. Each cycle through it would require less and less time to deplete them until it was taking the briefest moment each cast to deplete the rune. Eventually, after roughly eight drain cycles through the circle, when he had to barely touch each rune with magic to deplete them, Harry knew he was ready to break the ward.

He quickly switched out the Elder wand for his Beachwood wand, and muttered a low rumbling incantation from ancient Mesopotamian that was a standard Ward Breaker's finisher for runic array clusters.

After five seconds there was a bright flash and the array disappeared from Akitsu's forehead and she gasped. She held her head, and looked around, eyes wide and unfocused.

"It was like a tearing sound, and then a crack. Wow that feels different. I can think without having to concentrate on everything. It feels so effortless now. I can't believe how amazing this is, I can talk without having to force each word out. And wow is this cool, you won't believe…" Whatever Akitsu's next comment would be was undecipherable. Almost every girl laughed openly at the normally stoic woman that some of the Sekirei had known for years that had suddenly developed a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth.

When she finally noticed everyone's laughter, she looked around in confusion, until her eyes fell on Harry that is. Then, no one else mattered in the room as his bright smile completely dominated her thoughts.

Harry mirrored her thoughts. He felt the happiest he felt in a long time when he saw Akitsu get so excited just to have a bit more control of her mind. But it was time to give her even more control.

"Come on. Let's go do the last one for the day. You guys can all watch if you want, this ritual won't be as involved as Homura's." Harry grabbed Akitsu's hand and helped her from the room and up the stairs. The entire Inn's residents followed them. Even Matsu came out of her hidden safe-room hole, eager to see Akitsu take one more step towards being whole.

As they approached Akitsu's room Musubi ran ahead to open the door, but was surprised to find it was locked. Miya was confused and stated, "But the doors in the inn have no locks."

"That was me I'm afraid. I locked her door with magic to make sure the circle for the ritual wasn't disturbed," Harry said as he gestured towards the door and sent a wandless _Alohamora_ which resulted in a small popping noise like a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine.

"Please be careful to not step on the circle in the middle of the room," Harry announced as they entered Akitsu's room. There was just enough room for everyone to line the walls and have a clear view of the circle and Harry.

"Will you need any of us to help this time too?" asked Musubi. Her voice wasn't the normal cheerful voice he had come to know and like. It was strong as steel and just as determined. Harry looked at her in surprise, almost not even recognizing the voice, and was shocked to see the strong unwavering stare that looked back at him. She almost seemed to be a brand new and wholly different person right now. It actually almost seemed unnatural. He would have to talk to Musubi about this.

"No need for anyone but me in this one. When we eventually get to the one that removes the Empathic blocks on her mind, I'm sure Akitsu would appreciate you standing in the circle then." Akitsu glanced at Musubi and nodded. Harry was sure if had needed people that cared for Akitsu to participate in this rite that she would've been the first one in line.

Harry double-checked everything one last time and took a deep-breath, centering himself and clamping down on his Occclumency to remove his anxiety.

"Ok Akitsu, I need you to take a small step within the circle and stand there. Please be careful not to touch any of the lines or runes. Here's how this ritual works. I power up the four clusters representing the four elements of nature. After that happens, I power up my own control cluster. Then I do an incantation to start the array. At the conclusion of the incantation, the energy of the ritual is released and the block will be gone. It should be completely painless and instantaneous when it happens."

Harry looked at everyone gathered in the room before he continued, "A warning to everyone before I start this. Akitsu hasn't been able to feel and truly express emotions in years. Don't be surprised if she's angry or does something else unexpectedly here. Just give her some patience for a while because things we all take for granted will feel quite new to her."

Harry looked at Akitsu and asked simple, "Are you ready?"

She nodded, looking straight into his eyes and said, "Thank you for everything, my Ashikabi."

A small smile was all her declaration garnered from the wizard. Neither heard Uzume and Chiho look at each other and whisper, "Aww."

Harry took out the Holly and Phoenix wand. For some reason, it felt right for Harry to use a wand meant to protect others for this. He pointed at each of the elements rune clusters and activated them with a small burst of power. This left the entire circle lit except for the area directly in front of Harry.

For a brief moment, Harry and Akitsu gazed into each other's eyes. Then Harry looked down and activated his own rune and began the incantation that started the ritual. The chant was low and guttural, and the translation necklaces the girls wore were not capable of translating this ancient dialect. All witnesses to this rite simply remained spellbound as they watched the two in the center of the room.

As time went by Harry's eyes glowed a vivid green as he channeled more power into the ritual circle and the room. Finally, his voice reached a crescendo and he pointed his wand at Akitsu. There was a flash of light and, for the briefest of moments, people saw a flash of light appear from Akitsu's head. Only Miya and Matsu standing directly behind Akitsu saw the brief outline of a Sekirei crest shimmer through the shirt on the Ice Sekirei's upper back and exchanged quick knowing smiles of anticipation with each other.

With a quick wave of his wand Harry deactivated the circle and it powered down. Another wave of his wand and the circle with all its runes and lines vanished completely, which left the floor spotless with no indication that it had ever been present at all. Only then did he risk a look at Akitsu again.

She looked longingly at Harry while her lower lip quivered and tears began to form in her eyes. She took one tentative step forward and launched herself forward into Harry's arms while she locked lips with his.

Harry felt the magic try and grasp onto his like it had the night before, but this time it was much stronger. There was the briefest lull, like her magic passed over a speed bump it now found inconsequential, and then it locked onto Harry with a power that for any wizard other then Harry would be overwhelming.

Massive wings of Ice immediately erupted from her back and pulsed with a shockwave that knocked every person in the room including Miya on their backs. Harry felt her exhaustion dissipate as she hungrily pulled magic from him to remedy her weariness. Deeper and deeper they kissed, a coolness permeating the air as gravity defying snowflakes began to coalesce in the air around him. The drop in temperature was neither unpleasant nor unwelcome to any in the room as they watched the formerly broken Sekirei gain her wings.

Eventually they separated, which ended the spell which had kept the room in silence as they watched. Harry briefly saw Akitsu's eyes were illuminated with a fathomless deep electric blue that seemed to extend deep inside of her, causing the air around her eyes to chill with soft contrails of smoke-like movements before they faded to their normal color. Only then was a movement made from the observers. Every person who witnessed the impossible winging of Number 7 rushed up and cheered the duo in the center of the room.

"I am yours forever, my Ashikabi," was all Akitsu said as she wrapped her arms around Harry and embraced him as she held on for all her life was worth.

-o0o0o-

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Minato (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 7 Akitsu / Harry Potter

Number 9 Tsukiumi / Sahashi Minato

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

Number 108 Kusano / No Ashikabi

-o0o0o-

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

-o0o0o-

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Terminated Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

-o0o0o-

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

-o0o0o-

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 43 Yomi (Eliminated) / Mikogami

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)


	9. The Bounty

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

I felt bad that one of my other unpublished stories (the star wars one) is taking up so much of my potential writing time, so I figured I would publish one of the completed chapters I've had just sitting here.

Apologies in advance, but It may be a while before the next update, because I really prefer the idea of being very far ahead of the publishing curve.

The Lemon part of this chapter will be published elsewhere… eventually. I'm currently sitting on the fence and seeing which alternative posting site will eventually win out. There's just too darn many of them at the moment.

Chapter First Published: 2012-06-20

Chapter Last Update: 2012-06-20

**Chapter 9 – The Bounty**

The cheers and congratulations for Akitsu's winging to Harry had barely ended when the next unexpected major event of the day decided to happen.

This was not nearly as welcome as the previous.

Kusano was your average child; when you didn't take into account the fact she could turn a yard full of grass into trees thirty stories tall. Pretty colors and lights greatly amused and could captivate her for hours. When Akitsu and Harry bonded as Sekirei and Ashikabi, Kusano was enthralled by the light show. Her grin was from ear to ear, and her greatest desire suddenly was for someone to be able to make her wings do just what Harry had done for Akitsu.

As the kiss between Akitsu and Harry ended, and the cheering eventually subsided, Kusano had the typical delayed reaction of a child and simply said, "Pretty."

This event in of itself wasn't significant, but what happened after certainly was. The child's voice got everyone's attention in the room including Minato's, who was sitting in the back of the room inconspicuously on a chair with Tsukiumi beside him. The two of them were sitting there, silently watching the events unfold as outsiders to this group of close individuals. Kusano took one look at Minato, and to the shock of everyone in the room, ran towards him. The diminutive girl jumped into his lap, toppling the chair he was in backwards so that his head literally bounced when it smacked the floor.

Without hesitation, Kusano kissed the now nearly concussed boy full on the mouth.

Leaf-like wings emerged from the child's back, and the pulse that emerged caused the decorative plants in Akitsu's room to begin growing at a phenomenal rate.

Kusano broke the kiss and immediately exclaimed, "Now you're my big brother!"

The stunned silence that met this proclamation seemed deafening to Harry's ears. Miya was slowly grinding her teeth in her mouth. A palpable darkness began forming behind her that was so strong that Harry felt it wouldn't be long before you could reach out and touch it. Homura had her eyes narrowed at the boy, steam slowly wafting from her gloved hands. Tsukiumi was turning red with fury at the gall of the little girl putting moves on her self-proclaimed husband.

Not wanting to bear witness to the impending explosion, Harry turned and whispered to Musubi and Akitsu who were closest to him. "It is now time for a tactical retreat, let's go." Uzume heard him too, and after picking up Chiho, was close upon his heels.

-o0o0o-

"Tactical retreat?" Uzume asked, mirth in her eyes at Harry's desire to get away as fast as possible.

Before they had even left the room, the smell of smoke and the darkening demonic presence of Miya had them all wishing to be anywhere else. Being in Minato's shoes was not somewhere Harry wanted had any desire to be at that moment.

Harry simply laughed, "I thought it sounded far better than mumbling 'Brave Sir Harry, bravely ran away.'"

Reaching his room, he said, "You can all hide in here for a bit. I doubt they'll come looking for us for a while." The group slipped inside and Harry closed and locked the door with magic. Musubi immediately pounced on Akitsu and Harry, her arms around both in a fearsome hug, "I'm so happy for you both!"

Akitsu had already had a long tiring, and stressful day. The horrors that MBI had inflicted upon her had been brought to light, and nearly all were undone. She had exhausted herself using her ice abilities like she had never done before, and then she had achieved her greatest dream. She had found her true Ashikabi, and no one could ever again legitimately state that she was broken.

The sudden embrace from Musubi however was the straw that broke the camel's back. Akitsu's knees buckled and she began shaking uncontrollably. The emotions of the past ten minutes finally overcame whatever strength she had and she was left nearly incoherent. All Harry could do was to get on the ground and hold her. He wished he had a better room to place her in that was a bit more comfortable than the one he was in right now or that there was something he could have Dobby bring him.

Then, as usual, the thought of Dobby saved the day.

"Dobby!"

"Yes Sir, Harry Potter sir."

"Can you bring me one of the calming draughts please, as well as the largest Magical tent we own?"

"Ok, be right back."

Dobby popped away. Akitsu hadn't paid attention at all to the conversation, and Musubi just looked lost and didn't know what to do. Uzume and Chiho just watched on sadly, wishing they could help.

Dobby returned with the vial and a large oversized duffel bag filled with poles and canvas. Harry took the vial and tried to get through to Akitsu. "Baby, I'm going to need you to take this vial. I know you just got your emotions back, but they're overwhelming you. This will calm you down for a few hours so you can think more clearly. Please trust me that this won't hurt you."

Harry could tell Akitsu was weary of anything that would rob her of her emotions right now, but having them going full blast at the moment wasn't helping her either. She would have to be eased into them gently or they would cripple her at stressful times like this. The look she was giving him now was one of pure fear.

"Don't you think Miya, Musubi, and Homura would kick my ass if I did something right now to hurt you after all you've been through?" Harry said quietly, with a small rueful smile on his face. "Hell, I'm sure Uzume would kick my ass and then hold me down so Chiho could then get her licks in. Please?"

With that declaration, Akitsu tentatively took the vial from his grasp, opened and downed it, making a disgusted face afterwards. "Give it a few moments and then you'll feel a bit calmer. Your thinking will be just a bit clearer. It shouldn't be like before, when you could feel no emotions, but this should let you feel a small amount of the emotions you're feeling without overwhelming you. Ok?"

She nodded, closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply. To Harry's discomfort, she never once loosened her grip upon steely grip upon Harry's hand.. After about thirty seconds, she looked back at him and smiled. Musubi was still sitting a bit behind Harry, scared to look at Akitsu, and thinking she had done something wrong. "I'm sorry Musubi," said Akitsu. "Everything just got to me there. I couldn't tell if what I was feeling was anger or happiness. After that it just felt like the whole room started spinning."

"Well, you two kiss and make-up and I'm going to set up something special for us," said Harry.

With a wave of his wand, the contents of the duffel bag spread across the floor. Another wave had the metal supports suspended in the air and slowly inserted into the canvas cloth of their own volition. A final wave of the wand secured all straps, ties, and bindings that anchored the tent in place.

Musubi and Akitsu barely had time to register the whole process had begun before it was finished. Uzume and Chiho just stared on in silence. Apparently a day of being apparated and flown around on broomsticks had rendered Uzume a bit harder to surprise, and Chiho saw Uzume's lack of reaction and seemed to know that everything had to be safe. Infinite amusement filled Harry at the sight of Musubi's and Akitsu's open mouths. Harry said simply, "Well don't just stand there, aren't you all going to join me?"

The two girls just looked at him like he was crazy, with looks on their faces that clear asked how were the five of them supposed to fit into a tent that size? Harry laughed openly at the confusion written all over their faces, and then he lowered his head and walked into the tent.

The walls of the tent didn't move like they should have from the air displacement that should have occurred when a man the size of Harry entered a confined space. Uzume, who respected and liked Harry more every time she was around him wasn't about to let him goad her into anything or get one-up on her, picked up Chiho and walked quickly into the tent. Musubi and Akitsu looked at each other with their eyebrows raised and wondered just what in the world they had gotten into now.

"Let's go see," said Musubi finally. She grabbed Akitsu's arm and dragged her over to the tent opening. They both ducked inside and found themselves behind a stationary Uzume and Chiho, all four of them rendered speechless upon the inner threshold at what they saw.

An entire house was inside the tent. They currently stood in an oversized great room and could see a kitchen beyond it.. A few of the windows in the kitchen were visible and they looked out over on a bright and sunny day with mountains, a forest, and a vast lake. There were wide stairs that climbed to an open second floor and numerous doors that could be seen which opened to numerous unknown rooms.

And in the middle, sat Harry Potter with a smile on his face like the cat that got the canary while he leaned back upon an expansive couch.

"Do you like it?" were the only words out of the grinning wizard's mouth.

Musubi didn't even hear him ask the question, as she looked in every direction and was completely absorbed with the new things she found at each turn of the head. Uzume had already walked over to the couches to allow Chiho to lean back against some pillows. Akitsu at least still had the presence of mind to reply to the question, "This is amazing. What happens when the tent is put away?"

"The portal behind you closes and won't open. Technically you can get stuck in here if that happens, but I have my own emergency ways out. There's bedroom's upstairs for the two of you, and a Master Bedroom we can all share if we ever get to that point. Uzume, you and Chiho are welcome to commandeer any room you want at any time as well."

Musubi still hadn't heard a word of what was said, but Akitsu did. She walked over to Harry and stood before him. She towered over him as he lay back on the couch and looked upon his third Sekirei. She smirked and slowly raised one knee onto the couch, and then lifted the other so that she straddled his waist.

Harry honestly didn't know where to look. On one hand, Akitsu was on the super-model tier of the term '_drop dead gorgeous.'_ Her eyes shimmered and almost seemed to stare into very Harry's soul as he gazed up into them. On the other hand, her massive cleavage was less than an inch from his nose as he looked up, and Harry was very aware that Akitsu had not appeared to have worn a bra this afternoon even through all the exercises they had done.

She held his head in both hands, reached down and kissed him. He decided to not let his hands wander too much since Musubi was right behind them. Besides, he figured his hands would get all the wandering time he could possibly want later. He pulled her tucked-in shirt out of her pants and began massaging her now exposed lower back as they continued to deepen the kiss.

Eventually they broke apart, with equal-sized grins on their faces. Harry suddenly had an idea, "You know, we've had quite an active day. Would you care to go into the other room and share a bath, milady? You have many hard to reach areas I'm sure you will require assistance with."

A slight grin and nod was her only response, Harry looked around for Musubi, who could be seen still entranced by the many features of the various visible rooms. She currently stared out the magical windows and hadn't heard or noticed anything that had transpired on the couch. Uzume had Chiho balanced comfortably on top of her, and both had stopped whatever they were doing to watch Harry and Akitsu with salacious grins upon their faces. "Musubi? Akitsu and I are going to go and get cleaned up after the workout we had. Go ahead and explore the tent for a while, and if you need anything, just call Dobby, ok?"

"Sure thing Harry," Musubi beamed. "This place is amazing."

Musubi ran into the first room on the second floor and claimed it as her own. Harry could hear a girlish squeal of delight at what he assumed was her reaction to how large the room was. However, Harry had something else on his mind right now, and that was taking Akitsu into the large bath adjacent to the master suite.

He entered the large master bedroom in the tent for the first time in years. He had bought this tent a long time ago when he camped alone in the Australian outback. The native aborigines were kind enough to share some secrets of shamanism with him in exchange for learning some of his own magics. He stayed in the tent, just because he realized it had been months since he had spent money on himself for purely splurging purpose. The tent became a life-saver and sanctuary, since the wards he was quite adept at prevented unwelcome visitors and he was rather adept at finding obscure locations where the tent would not be found.

Harry and Akitsu entered the master bath. It was essentially a small pool, not quite as large as the prefect's bathroom he had seen in Hogwarts during his fourth year, but it was quite close. One of the elves must have overheard their desire to use it, because it was already full of hot, bubble-filled water when they entered the room. Harry had time enough to ensure there were towels present in the room when, the next thing Harry knew, he was forcibly turned around and Akitsu locked lips with his.

For a long beautiful moment Harry was entranced by her eyes before she slowly closed them. Her Norito had expanded outwards again and transitioned her eyes to that fathomless glowing blue that made him think they were wells of light stretching out to some incalculable distance.

_[*A wild Lemon approaches…*]_

_** Scene will be posted elsewhere… eventually. Suffice it to say Akitsu and Harry get together, and a VERY out of character Musibi joins in **_

_[*/End Lemon*]_

-o0o0o-

Akitsu, Musubi, and Harry left the bath thirty minutes later with smiles still plastered upon their faces when Dobby suddenly popped in. Without saying a word, the diminutive elf handed Harry a note.

_Harry_

_What on Earth have you done now? I thought last night was insane with Mutsu's head arriving special delivery, but something just happened which has all the bigwigs running around like chickens with their head's cut off._

_I don't know what's going on, but I do know the Discipline Squad is being mobilized for a new mission because of it. We're being briefed in fifteen minutes. The CEO is also going to send out another mass-broadcast at the same time, like the one he did for 108 last night. Minaka is furious about something and I have a feeling I'm going to be ordered to 'fix it'._

_Please be careful if you are going out. I have a feeling they'll try targeting you in some way. Your name hasn't been mentioned directly yet, but I don't think it'll be much longer before it is. The man is relentless when it comes to gaining information, and your identity is something I don't think can remain secret for long._

_I'd tell you to stay safe, but I know you probably won't listen._

_Kara_

"Shit," was all Harry could say. '_What could've caused this_,' he wondered. Was it when he healed Akitsu and winged her, or was it Kusano being winged by Minato, since he is the son of some scientific bigshot at MBI.

"We have to go see Matsu, now," Harry said as he quickly put on some clothes Dobby had brought for the three of them. He did have the presence of mind to stop and watch both Musubi and Akitsu stretch their arms over their heads to pull on their shirts. The day that view got old was the day his heart stopped completely.

Once the three were dressed, they tore out of the tent, with both Uzume and Chiho closely behind them. Both inquired what was going on as Uzume attempted to straightern her own shirt from whatever activities the trio's sudden reappearance had interrupted. The group of five ran to the solid wall behind which Matsu's room was hidden. Upon the activation of the hidden entrance, they entered the door to the hidden compartment and were promptly swallowed by the clinical darkness as usual. The only light in the small cramped room Matsu inhabited came from the dozen or so computer monitors and televisions which surrounded the bed in the middle of the room.

"Hi Harry, what's up? Care for some private experimentation? Musubi and Akitsu can join as well if you haven't already worn them out from whatever you were all doing in that tent in your room," said Matsu with an evil smile that was just enhanced by the reflected glare off of her now opaque glasses.

"Maybe later Matsu. For now, start checking MBI. Something big is about to go down from them according to a note I just got from Kara. There should be a CEO announcement in about ten minutes plus the Discipline Squad is about to be mobilized. Have you seen anything yet?"

Matsu's playful demeanor dropped instantly into a serious expression that proved why she was a former member of the original Discipline Squad. The playful perverseness of Matsu switched just as fast as he had seen Miya go from sweet land lady to hardened battle commander. Her hands flew across the keyboards in front of her, and random glances at monitors around her also showed some of her telepathic ability to mentally interface with information networks as those monitors suddenly displayed new information.

"Nothing yet, but they're definitely up to something. I see the blocks of time devoted to debriefing the Discipline Squad right now, and for Minaka to prattle on to us about something in a few minutes. There's no information about what it actually is though. Looks like whatever they're doing has been travelling mainly by word of mouth. Nothing to do now but wait and see what it is," said Matsu.

The whole situation seriously bothered Harry. He had no idea why, but somehow he felt the stakes had just risen.

"Rio!" he called aloud.

A nerdy looking older house that wore horn-rimmed glasses suddenly popped in. "Yes, Master Harry? What do you require?"

"Rio, has there been any news on the warding of the real estate that I purchased?" Harry asked, much to the surprise of the other inhabitants of the room.

"Warding shall be finished this afternoon, Master. We have four elves standing by to relocate there and provide staffing. Furnishings are already being moved in and will be completed shortly."

"Good, have the goblin's create me one emergency portkey to the site for me. Inform them I'll stop by later today and take control of the wards personally. Hopefully we can begin moving some people in there later tonight if we absolutely need to."

"What was that all about Harry?" asked Matsu after Rio popped away. She was the only one really paid attention to the whole conversation. Akitsu now dozed against a pillow in the corner of the room, while Musubi, Uzume, and Chiho amused themselves with some children's show on one of the TV monitors.

"I purchased a property here in Tokyo and had it expanded and warded magically so you will all have a true safe house. No one will ever be able to find it or access it without my explicit permission. I assume Miya will want to stay here, so that's one reason I had the emergency goblin portkey made. Just in case she needs it."

Harry paused, and then looked at Matsu, "I generally have really good instincts. I have a bad feeling right now."

Matsu gave a sad smile and was about to say something when the TV broadcast Musubi watched, as well as all the other TV stations, was suddenly interrupted.

A white-haired man with glasses had appeared on the screen. He wore what Harry would have loosely described as a badly clichéd magician's high-collared suit and jacket on. All he was missing was a top-hat to pull a rabbit out of. The entire ensemble was white, and it seemed to rub Harry wrong in every conceivable way. His loud boisterous greeting immediately woke Akitsu up from her nap, and had the full attention of all six people in the room.

"_Hello. I'm Hiroto Minaka, CEO of MBI. I'm currently broadcasting to let you all know of a disturbing development to our little game. Someone has winged a little bird that should never have flown. An altogether dangerous little bird has dared to defy the Gods. This travesty cannot be allowed to stand. I want both her and her Ashikabi out of our game. Here is the Sekirei I want all of you to familiarize yourselves with:_"

The image of Minaka faded into an image of a half beaten and barely conscious Akitsu sitting within a padded MBI medical cell. Akitsu, who stood next to Harry, made a gasp of horror and fell to her knees. One hand was over her mouth and she just sat there and shook her head.

"_What you all see here is Akitsu, Number 7. She was never meant to wing because of how mentally unstable she is. She is a deranged killer, and it's likely the only Ashikabi that could wing her is also as insane as her. Do not attempt to speak with her. Do not attempt to negotiate with her. If you find her, call this number." _

At this point a cell phone number flashed across the bottom of the screen over the image of Akitsu.

"_If you call this number, the Discipline Squad will be dispatched immediately to your location to deal with this aberration. Your reward for phoning in the tip that leads to either the capture of Number 7 or her Ashikabi will be eight billion yen. Have a great day and enjoy the game._"

The screen faded to black before the regular programming resumed. Harry just reached over and hugged Akitsu. "Don't worry. I told you, Karasuba and Haihane are on our side. Benitsubasa is a joke and I could kick her ass blind-folded. No one here in the inn would betray us after how we've helped them."

"We're not safe he-…" Akitsu began to say, but was interrupted as Harry placed a gentle finger over her quivering lips. He was so focused upon Akitsu he failed to register the door to Matsu's room silently open.

"If we have to leave, we leave. I've lived on the run before. If it comes down to it, I can hide people better then probably almost anyone on the planet. If we don't want to be found, we won't be found. I have everything we need. We have gold that's in Gnomish vaults in Switzerland. We have houses hidden in almost every major country on the planet, including this one now. I told you that in the eyes of magic we are married. You are my wife. That's what I mean when I say 'we'. Nothing is going to happen to you if I have any say about it."

He pulled back, and spoke a little louder so that all the occupants in the room, rather than just Akitsu, could hear him, "All this means is we may need to move our end-game move for Minaka up a few weeks. It'll all work out."

Akitsu was crying, but nodding her head. Musubi had her hand on her shoulder and was rubbing it softly.

Harry just now finally noticed that Miya had walked in and had been followed by Homura. The rest of the girls in the inn could be seen in the hallway. The entire group had apparently heard Harry's speech to Akitsu, and couldn't agree more. Miya took a look at them and said, "Congratulations again. Normally I think we would all be a bit happier for the two of you, but in light of the latest broadcast, I think some discussions are in order."

"You're right, " said Harry, who promptly took a deep breath before he proceeded with another quickly thought up plan.

"Miya, I don't want your inn becoming a war zone. If it comes down to it, I have a safe house that should be completed this afternoon with more protections than on it than you can possibly imagine."

Harry paused for a second, debated the merits of an idea, and slowly nodded to himself. He looked up at Miya and said, "In the meantime, Miya, I need your permission to do something."

"What do you need to do that would need my permission, Harry?" asked the purple-haired Sekirei titan.

"It's just how this type of thing works. I can't actually do this and have it work correctly without your permission. The magic won't function like it should unless I do. You own this Inn, correct?"

"Yes I do," said Miya, confusion quite evident.

"May I have your permission to erect wards over this Inn for the protection of everyone who stays here?" asked Harry, quite formally.

"What will these… wards do?"

"They will warn you if anyone approaches within two kilometers of this Inn who specifically intends to harm anyone residing in the inn. They will also protect the inn from physical and magical damage, and can prevent fires, reinforce the walls to prevent damage to the property, and limit the damage any magic cast against us does while they're on the property. Usually people would remove the wards so that they could attack us at full power. I kind of doubt anyone in Tokyo at this point would know much about how to take down wards."

"Then yes, you have my permission to ward the inn," said Miya immediately.

"Ok, I'll eventually need some of your blood so that we can tie the wards directly to you so you can control them. Rio?"

The older elf returned with a pop. He promptly bowed extra low and said, "You bellowed, Master Harry."

An eye roll was Harry's only response to the elf. "I need you to go over to the goblins and get a Class One ward stone. Something they would use for a family estate. Price really isn't important right now, time is."

"Understood Mi'lord," was the elf's response as he popped away.

"Lord?" asked Uzume, totally ready to dig for more dirt to embarrass Harry.

"Rio is an older elf. He likes to stick to the proper ways. Technically, I'm a Lord back in England… twice over. He likes calling me that to rile me up a bit because he knows I don't like it. Let's go find where we want to place the ward stone."

After some quick discussions, Miya and Harry decided to place the ward stone directly in the center of the house. Harry transfigured a hole in a hallway floor just outside the lounge, and lined the circular pit with newly transfigured stone that had been spelled _Impervious_ to weather and the elements.

With the hole set and ready for the stone to be set with runes, all Harry could do now was wait. His need to kill some time was unexpectedly short however. Rio popped in, and immediately asked a question.

"Can Master provide an international portkey to this location? The Goblins wish to hand-deliver the ward stone," said Rio.

"Why would the goblins wish to come in person?" asked a flabbergasted Harry. Goblins did not normally venture out into the muggle world. They only liked to deal with muggles if it meant they could financially ruin a company through covert economic warfare.

"The Goblin's volunteered, sir. They heard who the ward stone was for, and demanded the honor of personally delivering and configuring the wards themselves."

If thoughts had sound effects, a _'ding'_ would have just been heard on the inside of Harry's head. "Master Cursebreaker Spinebreaker, I assume?"

Rio nodded.

"Excellent!" Harry said in such an enthusiastic voice that it made nearly everyone jump. This _was_ excellent news. If there was anyone on the planet Harry trusted more than Neville, his wife Hannah, Luna, or Hermione, than it was Master Cursebreaker Spinebreaker. Harry quickly made an overpowered portkey to an empty room in the inn and gave the object to Rio.

While in Egypt, he had contracted himself out to Gringotts for a few curse breaking expeditions to gain some practical experience. Most of the Goblins thought it was all for show, and that Harry was a simple rich adrenaline junky and would likely get himself and members of their team killed. Harry somehow charmed the leader of the expedition into taking him despite this notion. The Goblin's opinion of Harry changed however when the expeditions financier betrayed them, leaving the group to die in a heavily warded room after an attempt to steal the treasure they had collected. Harry's quick actions and observation skills saved the expedition from certain death. Furthermore, he had helped the Goblins catch their traitorous ally and reclaim the stolen loot, which ensured the expedition was not a loss.

Since then, he had been on five additional expeditions with Spinebreaker, the goblin second in command on the original expedition, and all of them were successful. He even saved the group twice more on subsequent expeditions in situations that the Goblin freely admitted should have killed them all.

Spinebreaker had since dropped some none-too-subtle hints that he and his team would have no problem assisting him if he ever had any warding needs. It now looked like, to Harry at least, Spinebreaker was going to attempt to pay off some of the debt he felt he owed Harry.

A large whoosh startled Harry out of his thoughts. Ten Goblins emerged in the room. Spinebreaker simply grunted while looking at Harry, who laughed at the absurdity of the greeting. Harry pointed at the prepared hole in the floor, and with a clap of the Ward Master's hand, the Goblin's got to work.

"Do I even want to ask what sort of nastiness is about to be placed upon that stone?" asked Harry loudly with a broad smile on his face.

Spinebreaker looked at Harry, and every Sekirei present cringed at the fang-filled smile the Goblin afforded Harry with. "We know what kind of sense of humor you have, lad. Suffice it to say, we won't be activating any full lethality wards. Just your standard set of terror-inducement, lethargy, migaine, dizziness, flatulence, and incontinence. Of course those are beyond the normal ones which really matter, such as unplottability, fire-proofing , structural integrity preservation, and anti-app and portkey. It'll have all the typical anti-dark magic protections as well, but I doubt that's the sort of thing you'll be worrying about in the present environment."

"Very true. Thank you for your help, brother. This will make a lot of my plans here go much more smoothly."

"And just what are your plans?" asked Miya.

Harry looked around, and saw every person, be they goblin, Ashikabi, or Sekirei, had focused their attention squarely upon him. His first inclination was to tell a half-truth or lie, but that only made him feel like Dumbledore.

"At a high-level?" Harry asked, getting a nod from Miya.

"Well, at a high level here are my goals. Not one of you present here, or my two future girls over at MBI, will be eliminated or terminated in this 'game'… _ever_." He spoke this last word with such vehemence that half the people present flinched, and Spinebreaker merely smiled wider at the implied threat of violence.

"We're going to find every Sekirei on Uzume's list, and give them a place to stay if they want it at the safe-house I've had created. Another Goblin team is finishing the wards up on it across town and it should be done today. We're going to offer freedom to what's left of Higa's and Mikogami's girls as well. That shouldn't be too hard to accomplish with what we know about how they treat those girls. Mikogami's group will be in tatters without him around, and I think Higa's stupid enough to actually come right to us."

At the curious looks this last statement caused, Harry merely smiled devilishly. "Call it gut instinct. Higa is scum. He's lost a lot lately, and I have a feeling he'll be in pure damage control mode and tying up loose ends. He may come calling for that folder of Uzume's. He'll likely assume it's in her room here."

"Sometime soon, we need to re-wing Karasuba and Haihane. With the safe-house open, we can do it at any time, and I will if they directly ask me to. However, I would like to wait until an opportunity presents itself to do it when it'll be most advantageous to us. They still have unfettered access to pretty much that whole building. Who knows what kind of skeletons we can dig out of MBI's closet with those two and Matsu on our side."

And finally? There are at least two people on our… _visit_ list. Minaka Hiroto… and whatever wizard or wizards are there running experiments on all of you. Besides that, we'll play it by ear."

"I think I'm more emotionally invested in all of you after three days than I've been in anyone in over a decade. I'll be damned if I see any of you hurt by that man, regardless of whether I'm your Ashikabi or not."

Smiles met his declaration at the end, and were a few looks of gratitude as well. Miya was the only one to voice their thoughts however. "You have spoken aloud something that so many of us had wished someone would say for a very long time. You have already done what we haven't dared pray for because none of us thought it even possible. You offer an alternative to Minaka's madness. Following the path you have opened may not lead to the ruin of us all, which I know will happen if we continue as we did."

Miya cast her eyes down, and for the second time, he saw the real Miya for a split-second as her shoulders wilted. She quickly recovered and gave a rueful, sad smile.

"I wish my husband were here to see it. He fought for so long against all of this. Thank you, Harry. I'll go and prepare dinner for us all. Well, I'll tell Dobby and Winky what we'll be having for dinner at least," she finished while she smiled at the absurdity of trying to cook in a household where house elves were present.

'_At least she learned to give in far quicker than Molly Weasley did. Then again, she would never have been able to potion us so easily if she had_," thought Harry.

As she walked away, Harry turned to the remaining girls. "Are the rest of you ok with this? I know you've been told to fight each other for years by MBI."

Homura spoke up first, "I think everyone has always known it was wrong for us to fight each other. There are only 108 of us… we are the only ones of our kind here on this planet. Why would our ancestors send us to a new planet just for us to beat the crap out of each other and possibly kill one another? I don't think any of us here want this in the end."

"Good, I don't want any of this to be a surprise to you all in the end. I jus-", but whatever Harry was about to say was interrupted by Dobby and Rio popping in.

"Master Harry, the Goblins have finished their warding. Your presence is required to tie the wards to you," spoke Rio in his low dulcet tones.

"Great," said Harry, accepting a package Dobby was holding up at the same time. "What's this?"

"This is the Goblin Portkey the great Master Harry wanted," said a bouncing Dobby, who had nearly all the girls in stitches over his enthusiasm.

"Oh, awesome Dobby. Can you take this to Miya and tell her what the activation phrase is?" Dobby nodded and popped away.

"Go ahead and go, Harry. The boys won't take long to finish this, and we can portkey directly out after we have the landlady place some blood in the blood runes on the stone. You know the proper way to add your blood to the runes later if you wish to tie yourself in," rasped Spinebreaker from the corner of the hole. He quickly turned his attention back the Goblin warders who individually carved runes at a rate five times faster than Harry could manage on the best of days and there were nine Goblins in the pit at work.

With a nod of acknowledgement, Harry turned back to the large group still standing around. "Well, seeing as how I played BBQ with Homura all morning and then let Akitsu try to kill me for two hours with her ice, I think its Musubi's turn for some one on one time. Shall we go visit our future home, darling?"

Harry stopped, frowned, and decided to rephrase that last statement. "Well… one of our future homes at least."

"Sure, Harry!" shrieked a suddenly buoyant Musubi.

Harry turned back to the rest of the girls present. "Homura, Akitsu… heck all of you. Make sure you're working on your Occlumency exercises. Someone give Tsukiumi one of the spare books as well." Harry turned to Uzume and whispered, "Please watch out for Akitsu, just in case the calming portion I gave her ends early."

Uzume smiled and nodded, "Sure thing bro, though I may ask for a favor in return." She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively and walked slowly away while she gave an exaggerated shake to her hips that was missed by no one present.

With an arm held out for Musubi to loop hers through, he said, "Come on, girl. Let's go see our new home and paint the town red."

-o0o0o-

They apparated directly to the safe-house and met a pair of Goblins outside who keyed them into the external wards, then escorted Harry and Musubi directly to the primary Ward Stone. Harry tied the wards to him and felt the familiar surge of power as knowledge of the status of his newest home rushed his senses. It joined the constant thrum of information about all his properly around the world he was similarly aware of at all times.

They walked the Goblins out and bid them good day, which left Harry and Musubi in the main entrance hall of their new magically expanded home.

"This place is more beautiful than the tent was, Harry," gushed Musubi while she spun and tried to take in everything at once.

"I would certainly hope so," laughed Harry. "Come on, let's take a look around."

The house could be divided into roughly five sections; living quarters, entertainment areas, workout areas, kitchen and support Staff areas, and a massive unfinished underground room.

The bedrooms exceeded everything Harry had envisioned for them. Right now they were set up with the assumption an Ashikabi had only one Sekirei. The walls, however, could be knocked down between rooms and beds easily expanded so that, if Ashikabi's arrived with more than one Sekirei, the rooms could be reconfigured to support more than two occupants. Everyone would be allowed complete privacy as a bathroom, mini kitchenette, and family room was provided within each miniature apartment. Harry had made sure this specification was included in case an Ashikabi or Sekirei wished to be alone or were like Shi and had unnatural fears of others and wouldn't want to be in the public areas of the house. One room specifically was even setup so Matsu could use it as a failover room in the event her primary room in Izumo Inn were ever compromised.

The entertainment area was a place he figured would get quite a few of the girl's attention. TV's, video games, a library, and computers all set up in separate rooms and in sufficient quantities so that they would be hard pressed to not be able to fulfill whatever urge came upon one at a given moment.

The workout areas were everything his fighting obsessed girls and their sisters could need to stay in shape. He looked at the sheer enormity of what the Goblins had managed to fit inside the allotted space and shook his head. Even after fifteen years in the magical world, the concept of space expansion charms still ranked as the number one cool thing about magic to Harry. He marveled at colossal number of televisions floating in mid air, which could be summoned and would follow someone around as they worked out. He laughed as he noticed the bar off to the side of the workout pool, with a massive hot tub in between. He quickly wagered he would spend more time walking between the bar and the hot tub than swimming laps in the twenty-five meter pool next to both.

The kitchen and support staff rooms and offices were the domain of the house elves. Everything needed to wash, clean, and provide food for what could potentially be over 150 to 200 people was found here. He just hoped he would be able to still sneak in and prepare a romantic meal or two for his girls on occasion without too much griping from the elves.

Musubi had found the entire touring experience to be amazing. She wasn't enthralled with the rooms as much as she liked the paintings, artwork and various personal items spread through some of the public areas. Harry had a pre-set group of personal belongings which he had placed copies of in all the properties he owned. There were copies of the last six generations worth of family portraits from the Potters, including his parents. There were scores of photographs everywhere, split between shots of both his parents and the Marauders. The Marauder's set were comprised half of group-shots, though Peter more often than not found himself kicked viciously out of photographs by Sirius, and the other half were the documented aftermath of various pranks they had pulled over the years at Hogwarts.

By the time Musubi had finished walking a hallway filled with prank recaps, she was doubled over in laughter. Harry was able to explain what each one involved because of the meticulous notes and documentation provided by his father's journals.

Upon the discovery of his parent's portraits, she wanted to stop and talk with them, but Harry told her he had something better if that was what she wanted to do. Before they tried that though, they needed to get something to eat.

Before they left, the elves provided an incredibly fancy black cocktail dress for Musubi, with a plunging neckline which left little to the imagination. Some of the Potter family jewels were laid out for her as well, and her face beamed as Harry reached around her neck and clasped an enchanted necklace of white gold, rubies, and diamonds around her neck.

The necklace was enchanted to simultaneously draw people's eye, but keep them from approaching simply to chat unless you were keyed into the necklace by having Potter blood. The combination of compulsion and repelling charms were quite subtle, and Harry, who had never seen that particular necklace before, was incredibly impressed with the artisanship.

The only part of the outfit they changed was her shoes. The original high-heels the elves had chosen for Musubi only resulted in her falling over and tripping every few steps, more often than not directly into Harry. Instead of finding new shoes, Harry simply transfigured them into flats of the same style as an alternative.

The new husband and wife decided their first date would be an up-scale restaurant specializing in Katsu, which was high-quality pork pounded almost paper thin with a light breading, served with fresh cabbage. Miya seemed to enjoy the recipe the elves had come up with for it, so Harry and Musubi agreed to see if there were other variations they could convince Dobby and Winky to prepare for the group.

The meal was enjoyable, and their conversation was focused upon the events of the day, though they avoided up topics specifically related to MBI. Musubi was very interested in Magic, and hoped to someday try and see if a wand would work for her. He told her many of the spells that he intended to one day teach Homura and Akitsu.

It had never previously occurred to Harry to delve very deeply into how magic could be used directly within physical fights, so he didn't readily have any suggestions that could help Musubi. He suddenly realized that quite a few Sekirei seemed to be physical fighters, and many focused upon weapons training instead of magical attacks. Abilities such as Homura's control of fire and Akitsu's dominance over Ice seemed to be rarities. This would definitely be something for Harry to look into, and Musubi volunteered eagerly to help him search for answers.

Eventually near the end of the meal, Harry decided to inquire about an observation he had made the previous day.

"So you know Karasuba?" asked Harry, quietly. If it was a particularly sensitive subject, he hoped to be able to change the subject quickly.

"Oh yes. I've known Karasuba for years. She always been there, watching over me, pushing me to be stronger. We have a promise to each other…"

Suddenly though, Musubi stopped speaking. She cocked her head and bit her lip while she thought in a manner that would probably only appear cuter or more innocent if Kusano had been the one doing it. After a few moments of silence she continued, "Or, had a promise I should say. If you're going to stop the S-Plan, we won't be able to keep the promise to each other. We promised we would be the last two Sekirei. That we would be the last two to fight and see who would be the strongest. I don't think that will happen now."

She almost sounded disappointed to Harry's ears. He personally could not see enjoyment in the knowledge that they had reached their goal only at the expense of everyone else's defeat and separation from their Ashikabi's. The old Karasuba would probably want such a thing. That person simply wanted everyone else to suffer as much as she had. The new Karasuba wouldn't see the point of such a thing though. Harry couldn't understand what would make Musubi, who was normally so happy and full of life, want to see everyone else conquered to achieve this pact.

"What is the real reason behind this promise?" asked Harry tentatively.

"When I was young, I was kidnapped by a foreign country along with another Sekirei, Number 87, Kaho. They focused on me first. They… did things to me. Trying to figure out how I worked. Karasuba and Number 8 rescued me. Karasuba never really talked about it. Number 8 died on that mission to save us."

'_Click_.' Several pieces suddenly fell into place in Harry's mind. The Sekirei that Karasuba had been paired with on the second iteration of the Discipline Squad had died. Karasuba had resented Yume's beliefs and possibly had a bit of jealousy of her power as well.

"Number 8's name was Yume, right?"

"Yes, the Karasuba you know now has changed quite a bit from then. That woman didn't understand love and how it can change the world." As Musubi spoke, her voice changed slowly, morphing into something far more serious than normally came from his first winged Sekirei. The brunette's morphed into something much more pronounced, and her normally soft features took on almost a hardened, wearied look.

"She hated the world. To see someone give up everything so easily like Yume did changed Karasuba. Unfortunately I don't think it was for the better. You're the one who has truly passed through her walls. I'm so grateful to you… for helping my sister where I failed."

Harry stared at Musubi for a few seconds, utterly bewildered by the comments seemingly in direct contradiction to the knowledge he had. "Where you failed… what? You were a child at the time, Musubi. How could this possibly be a failure on your part?"

Musubi blinked a few times, and then smiled brilliantly. "What Harry? I'm sorry I didn't hear the last question. This food is excellent by the way, you should try some."

The complete shift in personality and subject totally threw Harry for a loop. '_What on Earth just happened?_ _It was like she was two separate people or something,_' thought Harry.

"You were talking about how you failed Karasuba," repeated Harry.

"No I wasn't…" said Musubi, surprise clearly etched upon her face. "Maybe I'm not strong enough to make good on our promise, but I don't think I've failed her. You don't think I have, do you Harry?"

"No Musubi, I don't think you've failed her." The confusion was almost too much for him. There were definitely two Musubi's. The ultra-serious one, who had spoken up earlier that day during Akitsu's ritual and somehow believed she had failed Karasuba, and the girl he usually had been with the past few days, who was bright, cheerful, innocent, and seemed to like everyone.

He quickly decided this mystery was not going to be solved without some input from Karasuba. Instead, he focused on the random thought he had earlier that night. It was spontaneous, and something he had thought he would never do again, but somehow it finally felt right to attempt.

"Anyway, I believe we're done. Let me pay the check, and then let's head back over to the safe-house for a few minutes. I'd like to introduce you to two people who I hope will be very happy to meet you," said Harry.

This seemed to cheer her up, and they left after they quickly settled the bill. The couple walked a short ways before they slipped casually into a quiet alley between the tightly packed buildings and disapparated and appeared in the middle of one of the entertainment rooms in the safe-house.

The room Harry had chosen had a very large comfortable couch for the two of them to sit on. Harry quietly pondered one more time the wisdom of what he was about to do. It may be selfish, but Harry had rarely been selfish during his life and, the more he thought about it, figured it was about time he was. The clincher to Harry that absolved him of most his reservations had been how he knew Dumbledore would be against what he was about to do. Harry had long-ago learned that the truth or correct path was usually the exact opposite of what Dumbledore believed or wanted.

Now resolved to carry out his plan, he quietly called out, "Dobby?"

The elf appeared, and seemed quite sober. The elf always seemed to pick up on his mood and knew to hold back his usually unrestrained enthusiasm. "Yes Harry, what do you need?"

"I need you to go into the high-security vault, Dobby. The one placed under the Fidelius. I want you to go to the portrait I had commissioned of my parents, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks that's in there, nearly at the back. Tell the portrait '_I seek wisdom from those far more intelligent than me._' When it opens, bring the package inside the pocket dimension back here."

The elf left and was gone for about five minutes. He returned, and held a black silk bag with a large circle upon it quite reverently. The elf passed it with both hands to Harry, who said, "Thank you Dobby."

The elf left quietly without his usual pop. Harry's unusual friend could definitely sense that something profound was likely about to take place.

"Let me tell you a story Musubi. It's a very old story from the magical world. It's about three brothers. They came across a wide, fast moving river, which had claimed many travelers' lives. They easily crossed since they were wizards, and this angered Death. Hoping to ensnare them later through guile, he offered the three brothers gifts as a reward. One received a powerful wand, which other people would forever covet. Through that brother's boasting, it lead to his death that very night. Another received a stone, which could be used to call the dead back to this realm. That brother used it to call his dead lover back, but she was unhappy when he attempted to keep her permanently in this realm, since the dead don't truly belong here. So he committed suicide to join her. The last brother asked simply to leave the meeting with a way that Death couldn't follow him. So Death, very reluctantly, gave him a cloak of invisibility, which allowed that brother to protect himself and his loved ones from dangerous events that could threaten their lives."

Harry looked up after staring at the bag the entire time. "Those three brothers were all ancestors of mine. The one with the cloak is my many times direct grandfather. I received the cloak when I was eleven years old. This…" he said, holding up the bag, "…is something I came across five years later."

He opened up the bag and allowed a cracked black stone to fall into the palm of his hand. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "This is the Resurrection Stone. It allows you to commune with those who have passed on. I've only ever used it once, and that was when I thought I was walking to my own death. I told myself I would never use it again, that I would see my parents again one day when I passed on and that would be enough. Now however, after seeing you wanting to speak with my parents' portraits, I figured I would offer you something better."

He held Musubi's palm upwards and placed the stone in it. He picked it up, and turned it over three times while he cupped it between their hands. With each rotation he thought of his parents. After the third turn, Harry heard Musubi gasp as two semi-solid apparitions appeared in front of them.

"Hello son," said the beaming visage of James Potter. Lilly Potter said nothing but gazed lovingly at both Harry and Musubi.

"Are both of you ok? I was always very reluctant to do this, because I didn't want to cause pain to either of you by bringing you back. I'll stop this right away if that's the case," said Harry. The pleading and hope in his voice for the opposite that he had tried to disguise was obvious in the way he asked his questions.

Lilly shook her head and smiled, "This is fine, Harry. The stone shouldn't be used to keep us here permanently, in some pale imitation of life. I had hoped for a long time now that you would use it again to speak with us, or any of the others. I'm glad you finally decided to talk with us again."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment where he collected his thoughts, he gestured to Musubi with the hand that did not hold hers with the stone between them. "Mom, Dad. I would like to introduce you to someone. This is Musubi. Musubi, this is my mother and father, James and Lily Potter. We can speak with them as long as we're both touching this stone."

"It's wonderful to meet you," said a smiling Musubi. "Harry has done so much for me and my sisters. He's the best Ashikabi I've ever met, and I'm honored he's mine."

"It's absolutely wonderful to meet you in person Musibi," said a very gracious Lilly.

"Welcome to the family," James said immediately afterwards.

Harry turned back to his parents, "I'm not sure how much you guys keep abreast of current events up there. Musubi's my wife, but she's also quite more than that actually. We're bonded. She was about to start a conversation with your portraits earlier, but I thought it might be best to introduce you directly."

"We have been following things a bit, definitely more recently since I was able to sense your bondings. You have three, don't you?" asked James, who very subtly tried to wriggle his eyebrows at Harry. He failed miserably, and the smack he received from Lily on his head was almost felt across whatever planes of existence separated them from Harry and Musubi.

James continued, rubbing the back of his head, "The Potter family magic let me feel it. I can still tap into it a bit even though we've passed on. It was something I was never really able to master when I was alive. Normally we were taught in our mid-twenties by an older member of the family, but my father died when I was sixteen and I never had a chance to go through the family grimmoire before we went into hiding."

"Well, I have three Sekirei now," Harry said, before he gave his mother a slightly frightened look, "but I know of at least two more that will likely become bonded to me. Possibly in the next few days or so."

"Five wives…" Lily said with a stern look.

The rant he could see his mother work her way up to reminded him eerily of Hermione, so he quickly decided to head off the signs of his approaching doom. "I think after everything that's happened, finding five wonderful people who love me for being _me _and will spend the rest of their lives with me is probably the best thing that's ever happened."

Her features softened. "You're right. We trusted the wrong people when we were alive, and you paid the price for our mistakes. I hope you can forgive us. How Dumbledore managed to delay his final judgment long enough to throw that twaddle at you while in limbo is beyond me. He was sent to the place all betrayers go right after his meeting with you."

"Anyway," interrupted James, who glared at his wife while he snaked an arm around her back. "I doubt Harry asked us here to discuss such unpleasant things."

He turned his gaze back to Musubi, "You've had a hard life as well. I'm glad you were able to find a small bit of heaven by finding Harry, and giving him the same. We know a bit about your life, Musubi, but not everything. You need to be strong in the coming days."

"Harry is going to need you, and so will Karasuba and Miya," continued Lily.

"What d-" Harry tried to ask, but was interrupted by James.

"We can't tell you Harry. We're allowed to talk about the past to a point, but we're not allowed to really go much into future. It's one of the few rules imposed upon us," said Lily while she involuntarily winced.

"Ok, I know how unique and special what we're doing is. I won't complain," said Harry.

"Such maturity, Harry. Padfoot will be appalled," said James with mock-disappointment.

"I'm sure Sirius is merely jealous of my great luck with women," said Harry with a Malfoy-esque drawl. "I mean you have mom. Remus has Tonks. All Padfoot can do is change into a dog and lick his own-"

"Anyway!" shouted Lily, which didn't stop James and Harry's riotous laughter. When they had calmed down, she continued.

"You shouldn't say such foul things around Musubi. She's had a sheltered life and you shouldn't be corrupting her in such a manner. Do be careful with Akitsu, Homura, Haihane, and Karasuba as well. Akitsu will look to you as more and more of a savior in the future for the things you've done for her. Don't allow her to risk herself recklessly to protect you. Homura may love Takami, but she will grow to love you just as much because of her bond. Please don't ignore her feelings."

James continued, "Haihane will need you to bring her out of her shell. She's got fire in her, a lot like Lily. I think you've seen it a few times. She just needs a bit of encouragement. Once that comes about, I doubt you'll find someone with a more acerbic wit than her. I think Karasuba will be the one to help you the most with all this. She'll act, not quite as the mother to your little group, but she'll still be a good person for you all to turn to just as much as Miya acts that way now."

James suddenly looked very seriously at Harry, "Trust Karasuba's and the other's judgment. You don't need to do everything on your own any more. Place the trust you wish Dumbledore and Weasleys had been worthy of in your girls. They will never betray you."

"And don't believe that you need to fight all the coming battles on your own, Harry. The women you've found are quite capable of defending themselves. You can trust them to look after themselves," said Lily.

"We'll never let Harry down," said a voice to his left Harry quickly recognized as the mysterious one he had so many questions about.

Lily looked curiously at Musubi, and then broke into a grin that was quickly mirrored by her husband. "Thank you, it means a lot to us that the _Sekirei of Fate_ watches over Harry. Be patient. Your time will come soon."

Musubi nodded and did a quick blink and shake of the head. Harry looked from her to his parents and wondered if they were going to clue him into something they were obviously aware of but he wasn't. Lily shook her head at his look, but James took pity and obviously decided to give him the barest of hints. "Talk to Karasuba. It's a puzzle you have to figure out on your own. It's not something to rush, but the reward I believe will be well worth it for you and your wives."

Nodding slowly, Harry could merely say, "Ok."

"You should get going soon. There's no need to discuss everything in one night. You can call us or anyone else whenever you wish," said James. "There are still many things I would like to tell you about our family, and things your mother and my mother will want to pass on to you and your wives directly. Portraits are meant to suffice in situations like ours, where a family has passed on and Family Secrets could be lost. With the stone, however, the entire family would like to do our duties properly for you after all you've been put through."

"Understood, and thank you, from both of us," said Harry, with Musubi nodding her agreement.

"Now, the others will be worried about you being out so long. Uzume and Chiho are becoming particularly attached to you, as are Miya and Matsu. You may not bond to them all, but don't hesitate to include them in this new family you're building," said Lily.

"Fine, fine, though I don't see why you're getting rid of us. Watching Padfoot run in circles after his tail for the rest of eternity can't be that interesting," joked Harry.

After she rolled her eyes, Lily looked at Harry with the same loving gaze she had for him all those years ago in the forest, "We love you Harry, and we're so proud of what you have done and what you are planning to do. You deserve all the happiness you can find."

James smiled at the couple, "…and, again. Welcome to the family Musubi. We're honored to call you a Potter." James looked thoughtful for a second. "You should have Karasuba definitely be Lady _Black_, Harry. It's quite appropriate I think."

"I'm sure she will appreciate the thought," said Harry wryly with a smirk on his face. "One more thing, before we go. Tell Tonks to expect a few calls soon. She's going to have a new student. I only hinted at it to Homura a few days ago, but I really would like Tonks to teach her if she's willing."

"We'll mention it to her, but you're the one who will need to negotiate teaching fees with She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I'm sure she'll be quite disappointed to find out your tattoo is gone," said James with a laugh.

"That should teach you not to drink so much if you're depressed," said Lily with a hint of admonishment towards Harry, who couldn't help but look down sheepishly at her rebuke, which caused James to laugh even harder.

"Anyway, we'll see you again soon. Love you Mom, Love you Dad."

"Goodbye Mrs. and Mr. Potter," said Musubi.

"Its James and Lily, Musubi," said Lily with a smile. "Goodbye, you two."

Harry let go of Musubi's hand, dropping the stone back into the silk bag. Musubi turned to him and hugged him, "Thank you for introducing me to them. I really liked your parents."

Harry squeezed her in return while he whispered, "They were truly special people. Just like you, Musubi."

--

***Author's declaration of known strangeness***

I'm well aware people will look at Musubi's actions during the lemon and go, '_Eh? That's not right._' I think I've dropped enough hints at what's going on that some of you may understand what really happened in that scene, and just who exactly was involved. For all the others. Just be patient, it'll be explained a few chapters down the road. Whenever I do get around to posting them, that is…

-o0o0o-

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Minato (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 7 Akitsu / Harry Potter

Number 9 Tsukiumi / Minato

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

Number 108 Kusano / Minato

-o0o0o-

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

-o0o0o-

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Terminated Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 43 Yomi (Eliminated) / Mikogami

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 87 Kaho / Oosumi Orihiko (Kidnapped along with Musubi as a child)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)


	10. Searching the City

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

I'm not mentioning the translation charms anymore. Just assume Harry is subconsciously throwing them out like candy like he has been. We're going to have new characters showing up in large groups going forward, and it's a plot element I frankly don't care to worry about anymore. Boo and hiss all you want, I don't care.

Chapter First Published:

Chapter Last Update: 2012-06-25

**Chapter 10 – Searching the City**

Harry returned to Izumo Inn later that night arm in arm with Musubi. His current emotional state bounced randomly between feelings of happiness and sadness. The short conversation with his parents had given him answers to some long-wondered questions about his life, and in return they had thrown even more questions into the light. As he held the front door open for Musubi, he could not help wonder what exactly the 'Sekirei of Fate' was that his mother had referenced.

How did his mother even know about Sekirei to begin with? How did those who had passed beyond the veil get information on events and people who have not shaken the mortal coil? '_More questions_,' thought Harry in irritation.

He was surprised to feel the tension and downcast spirits within the inn. The announcement of the price upon both Akitsu's and his own head clearly had the occupants very worried. Akitsu had already retired to bed for the night in exhaustion after her long day when they arrived, and Matsu was apparently in her war room / bedroom trying to eliminate any reference to Harry that was found upon the public internet.

She had told the others earlier how surprised she had been at how little information existed about Harry. Almost all of it was pre-1991 records related to his non-magical schooling in England. After that, Harry vanished almost completely from sight with the exception of the few times he had flown in and out of a few countries under his real identity, such as the United States and France where there security had occasionally snagged a bit of information on him. All of this data had since been purged from every system she could find. Harry now effectively never existed in digital records, since all his property had long been registered under pseudonyms and corporations that he utilized as fronts.

Harry and Musubi found the rest of the inn's occupants in quietly conversation within the lounge when they arrived. The group's general spirit seemed to rise with their return, and all but Miya fired question after question at Musubi, who gleefully recalled her tour of the new house and their dinner. She had agreed and would hopefully remember not to mention the summoning of his parents' souls back to Earth, since he said that was something for only his own Sekirei to know.

Miya quietly sat down next to Harry, and she looked exhausted.

"Are you feeling ok, Miya?" he asked quietly while he hoped the concern he was feeling was noticeable in his tone.

She smiled tiredly, "Yes, Kusano is just a bit much to deal with."

"Why are you being forced to handle it? What's Minato doing?" asked Harry as he half-wondered if it was a good idea to give Miya a target for her exhaustion.

To Harry's utter shock, Miya grunted. He closed his mouth afterwards with an audible snap of his teeth after it had fallen open. "That boy... If Takami wasn't his mother I would be figuring out how sharp that new sword you gave me is. Nothing permanent mind you. Just a few tests."

Harry could not help but shiver at the demonic aura that slowly formed behind the woman as she spoke these words. The rest of those present saw this too and now slowly backed away to the corner of the room opposite the two.

Harry definitely felt he should quickly move to head the off the feeling of negativity that slowly strangled the group, so he figured now would be an excellent time to get everyone focused upon things they could do to help others.

"Alright, do you all have a few minutes before you all head to bed? I know Miya is tired, and Chiho can't be doing much better. I just wanted to point a few things out before I forget," he asked aloud to the room's frightened occupants.

Matsu had returned at this point, and Harry nodded in acknowledgment and waved her over. She sauntered over with a spring in her step, and Harry secretly wondered how long before the beautiful redhead asked him to wing her too.

"I know today was a long-day for all of us. But I think we've been given an opportunity here. With Minaka pointing every greedy Ashikabi at me and Akitsu, he's managed to divert a lot of the attention that Higa could have otherwise pointed at the Sekirei that are in trouble. I say we take the opportunity to start tracking a few of them down and get them under cover as soon as possible."

A quick look around the room and Harry knew he had them. The best way to light a fire under any Sekirei seemed to be pointing out other Sekirei being hunted for reasons other than participation in this 'game'. Now that more of them were coming around to his line of thinking about completely ending the game, it should be easier to make them try to help others.

"I want everyone to get a good night's sleep tonight. Then we can move out tomorrow and start searching for people to help. I'll have Akitsu stay here while we're out. Just to allay any concern, I'm not in the least bit worried about someone attacking her. I just want her to learn Occlumency as soon as possible and running around for the next few days or weeks finding all these hunted Sekirei will just be a distraction for her."

"Who's going to handle what?" asked Homura

"Matsu's obviously our tactical and information source. She'll be here in her room keeping an eye on everyone. Oh…" Harry suddenly turned to Matsu. "The safe-house has a room specifically made for you. It's warded to allow no interference to your electronics. I just need to know what kind of equipment you want purchased so it can be moved there. It can be a back-up or emergency command center for us if the Inn is ever compromised or you're forced to leave."

"Oh, great. I'll get Dobby a list later on," said a very happy Matsu.

"Good, I want Homura on almost every mission we go on. In fact, I think you should run them. My original thoughts were to have Kara run most of the missions we go on, but a lot of Sekirei obviously have some bad experiences with her in the past. You, however, know quite a few of the Sekirei. Most of those we'll chase down will hopefully know you were a Guardian. If you're with us, they're more likely to trust you and us by association."

"I'd be pissed in general if you didn't bring me," smirked Homura with a half-hearted glare.

After a quick roll of his eyes, Harry turned to Musubi and gave her a nod, "I already know there's no chance you won't go along."

"Right," said Musubi cheerfully.

Looking at Uzume, who had Chiho lying with her head in her lap, he said, "I could use you Uzume, but I think it's more important you stay and care for Chiho right now. She's going to need you to help her gain her strength back. If it's a true emergency, I'm sure Matsu can let you know where to go, but hopefully we won't need you and you can take care of your Ashikabi."

Uzume looked a bit disappointed, but a quick touch to her face from a grateful Chiho shifted her focus completely back upon her Ashikabi.

"Minato, for good or ill, you're responsible for Kusano now. I cannot tell you how the relationships between you and your Sekirei should work, but we need you to watch over Kusano now that you've winged her. Whether Tsukiumi goes along with us is up to you and her, and you can let us all know your plans in the morning.

Turning to the last pair, Harry half-smiled. "Toyotama, here's your chance if you want it. Just be aware you might be seen out there, and that will bring even more heat down upon you from Higa. Just think about it overnight and give us your decision."

"Shi, I really want you to come along with. Not only do you know what it's like to be chased, you may have some good insight into how to talk to some people who may not want to listen to us at all. Plus having you with us gains us a lot of points in our favor. They'll see that you're not winged and with an Ashikabi that isn't going to force it upon you. Hopefully with you around they'll trust us that much quicker."

Turning to the exhausted looking woman next to him, Harry placed a hand over Miya's. "Lastly, you need to rest. I don't doubt you're physically fine, but I think the last few days and all the surprises finally hit home. Ask Dobby and Winky to run things for you tomorrow. Let them handle all the cooking and cleaning."

"As for the rest of you, get some sleep. Meet down here for breakfast by 07:30. We'll try and be out the door by 08:00.

Harry watched the group leave, but held out a hand to hold Matsu up a bit. "Thanks for digging up what you could about me and deleting it. There shouldn't have been all that much, but anything to reduce any data trail that could possibly lead back here is a good thing."

"No problem, it was fun messing around in systems that old. Besides…"her voiced dropped suddenly, and she leaned in closer, "… you can owe me for it later." The glare of light on her glasses had returned in spectacular form. Harry was finding Matsu's antics at times like this instilled just a bit more intimidation into him than anything he had seen Miya pull off thus far.

"Er, sounds great Matsu," was all he could manage to squeak out before she sauntered out of the room, her hips swaying widely as she left.

He shook his head at her form as she retreated. Harry could only wonder at the odd way the universe had decided to complicate his life this time. '_Too many hot girls with huge chests. Never thought this would be a problem_.'

-o0o0o-

Harry had sent Winky to deliver two small doses of Pepper-Up to Haihane and Karasuba with instructions to use them if they became exhausted. Then he retired to the tent in his room, somewhat annoyed he would sleep alone tonight for the first time since he met Karasuba.

Winky had reported in that Haihane and Karasuba continued to chase down dead-end sightings of Akitsu. Luckily most did not originate from Sekirei or Ashikabi, but instead came from MBI employees and Tokyo citizens who were aware of the S-Plan and merely wanted fast cash. This at least slightly calmed Harry's worries about the acceptance of unknown Sekirei and Ashikabi into the safehouse without the prior knowledge of how they would react to Akitsu.

Homura was off… somewhere. He didn't even pretend to know what went on in her head. He hoped after he badgered her to contact Takami enough that she had gone and finally done so. And Musubi seemed rather tired and had wandered off to bed on her own.

He fell finally into his bed after another exhausting day. How in the world had his life gotten turned upside down like this? The thing that surprised him the most was that he enjoyed almost every minute of the past few days. He was helping people who needed it. The Sekirei he met, even if they weren't going to be bonded to him, for the most part felt like they would become lifelong friends.

While he avoided sleep, he stared at the ceiling and began to ponder the next few days. He knew they needed to find the Sekirei on Higa's target list. That would have to be priority one. Then, they needed to do something definitive against MBI directly. That plan would take longer to implement, especially if a detailed plan couldn't easily be figured out. Then he could wing Karasuba and Haihane and get them out of that place, which would then bring even more trouble down upon their heads.

He realized he definitely needed to talk to Takami. She was Minato's mother, Homura's lover, Kusano's Adjustor, and she was there twenty years ago when the Sekirei ship found. She was in this mess up to her eyeballs and if anyone would have insider information to help them bring the whole thing crashing down, it would be her. Hopefully she could be convinced to play some part in whatever scheme they came up with to liberate all of the Sekirei.

After MBI was dealt with, all that remained that Harry was aware of was to clean up Higa's gang, find out what was left of Mikogami's Sekirei, and deal with whatever wizard is secretly at MBI and treated his girls like his personal Frankenstein lab.

'_Oh, sounds like it'll be a cinch_,' snorted Harry to himself. He felt like he was making impossible lists again as he did with the Horcruxes so long ago.

'_At least_,' he thought, '_there wouldn't be any breaking into a bank and flying out on a dragon this time._'

-o0o0o-

The entire house was present the next morning. Harry set up a dicta-quill so he could send a transcript to Karasuba and Haihane in case they could offer more advice later. Takami was a good idea too, but he would have to talk to Homura about that first.

They had stayed in the lounge after breakfast, everyone talking quietly. Harry was quite curious as to how today would ultimately play out. Harry had contacted Dobby, and requested he locate some additional free or cast-out house elves if possible, because he felt they would seen be needed at the safe house. With the large number of Sekirei that could potentially end up in hiding, a staff of only four house elves did not sound like nearly enough.

Matsu had been placed in charge of the briefing they would have this morning. She was the ultimate information source, and Harry liked the idea of one his girls being in charge of each part of this. '_One of my girls?_' his breath hitched as he thought this. '_I guess that wouldn't be too bad, but I wonder when enough will be enough?_'

His thoughts of whether he would ultimately be the one to wing Matsu were interrupted when he began wondering what Matsu was waiting for to begin the meeting. The original plan of a 0800 departure had long since passed by, but no one had told him what the holdup was.

The answer abruptly started to make it known when Homura got up, left the room, and returned a minute later with a middle-aged woman with ear-length white hair. She had a very noticeable slash over her left eye that was still healing. He was sure he could guess the newcomer's identity when he found he suddenly found no need to wonder.

"Mom?" asked Minato loudly.

Conversation halted in the room as everyone stopped speaking and stared between the two. He saw Takami flinch at the sudden attention and droop her shoulders. Homura gave her a tentative nudge and she walked over and gave her son a quick hug. There was no way to miss or mistake the look of betrayal in Minato's eyes. Harry thought anyone who bet on anything other than one specific word spoken as the next one out of Minato's mouth would be a fool.

Harry was not disappointed with his assumption when Minato simply asked, "Why?" The anger in his voice displayed a part of his personality he definitely had not shown the previous day upon his initial arrival at the inn with Tsikiumi.

'_Maybe that's what Tsukiumi sees in him?'_ Harry wondered as he subconsciously squashed the thought of conjuring popcorn for the very public confrontation that now brewed before them all.

Takami squared her shoulders and looked right at Minato, "I know I owe you a reason, a damned good one in fact, and I'm not sure I can provide it especially after what's happened over the past few days. Can we delay this explanation a day or so? I think you'll understand why I want to wait after you see something I need to show you all."

Without waiting for an answer, Takami walked over and handed a folder to Matsu. Harry looked to Homura, giving her a '_What the hell is her problem?_' look that prompted Homura to look sheepish and shake her head. '_Well, Takami certainly hasn't impressed me so far or made a good first impression_,' thought Harry.

Matsu read the contents of the folder quickly. Her eyes narrowed at a few points and opened wide in shock at the end. She looked at Takami, a clear '_Are you serious?_' plastered all over her face. Takami nodded back in reply as some sort of confirmation, then sat down at the table next to Homura.

Matsu took a deep breath, steadied herself, and looked back to the group.

"Well, now that everyone is here, I think we can begin," said Matsu suddenly, her sarcastic cheeriness failing to cut through the slowly building tension in the room. "I believe everyone knows each other except for our latest guest. This is Sahashi Takami, an Adjustor at MBI who has worked on Sekirei such as Homura, Musubi, and Kusano among others. She's also the mother of our newest resident Ashikabi, Minato."

Takami merely gave a slight nod at her introduction and said nothing more.

Matsu continued after the acknowledgement, "Some of you don't know the full story around what is going to happen today, so we're going to bring you all up to speed first. Number 10, Uzume…" at Matsu's gesture, Uzume gave an over-the-top wave and huge smile, which made half of the room shake their heads at the happy girl.

"… her Ashikabi was deathly ill, and on the verge of being admitted to hospice. Chiho was a patient at a hospital in the east part of the city, owned by Higa Izumi, a wealthy and influential Ashikabi. The company he owns is a direct competitor of MBI, and based upon analysis I've done, it's a logical assumption he's using the Sekirei Plan as a cover for industrial espionage. He also isn't exactly the most pleasant of individuals."

Matsu grew quite serious suddenly, and caught everyone's full attention, "His intention was to blackmail Uzume into assassinating Sekirei and Ashikabis on a list that he provided in exchange for Chiho's continued medical care. It would not cure her of course, merely keep her alive. The whole situation had the potential to turn out quite bad, had Harry here not fallen into our lives."

At the room's sudden glance, Harry couldn't help but put his hands through his hair and look down sheepishly. "Harry as many of you know is a Wizard. They're a society of people who have hidden themselves from the world for hundreds of years to avoid persecution. They have their own international government with similarities to the UN, and individual governments for countries. That is, everywhere on Earth except for here in Japan. Japan is not part of this international organization, so the Magical people born here often do not receive any formal training or the ability to take advantage of Magical advances or treatments."

"Harry was able to discover that Chiho had a Magical illness, which is why no normal hospital had the capabilities to cure her. I believe she has one more day of treatments left?"

Chiho nodded as Harry spoke up, "Yep, I'll give her one more exam tomorrow to ensure she's ok, then we'll start on a physical therapy regiment augmented by some specific Magical supplements and potions. She should be back on her feet in a month or so, just as healthy as she was before all this started."

"That's amazing, it truly works that fast? I wonder what else can be done with Magical methods." blurted out Takami. Harry could barely contain his glare at the woman. He knew Homura had feelings for her, and didn't want to cause a scene. He also saw the renewed look of hurt in Minato's face as he realized once again that his mother had been lying to him his whole life.

Harry ignored the question and with a nod from Harry to Matsu, she continued, "But even with Chiho safe, we are all still left with Higa wanting to assassinate Sekirei. Before they broke Chiho out of the hospital and faked her death in their records, Uzume and Harry visited Higa to try and get a complete list of Sekirei he was after, and they succeeded."

"He also managed to plant listening spells in his office, which are working perfectly by the way. He hasn't done or planned anything in the past day in a half, though he has ranted and yelled a lot about the loss of his three most powerful Sekirei." Looking at Toyotama, "He's aware you're missing, by the way, and that the other two you were with have been eliminated. Its driving him mad that he has no idea who took down his two girls and is of the same opinion as MBI that it was Mikogami who did it."

This brought some chuckles from the room, and a wide-smile from Uzume who said, "And they have no idea it was a non-Sekirei who took down all three of them," she said, and then blew a playful raspberry at Toyotama who laughed aloud and shook her head.

"Yeah, I got my butt handed to me from twenty meters away before I barely even knew Harry was there," said Toyotama.

"But you looked damn sexy falling down at least," said Harry with his lop-sided grin, which lasted about a second before a well aimed soup ladle from across the table hit him in the forehead.

Seeing stars in his eyes, he could just barely hear Matsu talking over the laughter of Miya having floored him with a cooking implement. "So now that we have this list, we can do something about it. We have no doubt that Higa will simply try and use someone else to attack these specific Sekirei, so we're going to help them first. Harry has bought a rather large property here in the city that was expanded magically like Harry expanded this room. He also had the Goblins protect it just like they protected this inn yesterday, so the place is probably one of the safest places in the city."

"We're going to start sending people out today to try and convince these Sekirei and their Ashikabi to hide at the safe-house. The first mission has a few options for who we could possibly go after, but I think we've had it chosen for us with the information Takami just provided. If you look at your lists in front of you, one of the Sekirei Higa wanted eliminated was Number 107, Shiina."

"No!" shouted Kusano. "Nobody hurts Shiina!"

Miya was quick on the draw and quickly enveloped the girl in a hug before the inn could be destroyed. Everyone in the room held their breath and prepared for the worst after what the girl had done in the Arboretum, but when nothing happened after a few moments, everyone suddenly as one breathed again in relief.

"Well…" said Matsu collecting herself. "That's one reason we needed to help Shiina, simply because of the brother and sister relationship that exists between Ku and him. But that's not all…"

Everyone saw Matsu looking at Takami, who got the hint. She took a deep breath and spoke. "My daughter's name is Yukari. She's eighteen and a year younger than Minato." She paused again and visibly gathered her strength to speak. Finally, she looked up and said, "She winged Shiina yesterday. Both of my children are now Ashikabi."

Harry just leaned back and let _that_ zinger sink in. It seemed like some sort of sick, twisted, and cruel cosmic justice. This woman had hidden her work from her children their whole lives, and now they had unintentionally been dragged kicking and screaming square into the middle of her company's insane 'game'.

Harry spoke up, "Alright, I think we can do this. But you," Harry said, pointing directly at Takami, "will come clean with your children immediately. Like end of day tomorrow at the latest."

Takami apparently took exception to Harry's words and started to manifest some cheap knock-off version of the aura that Miya could produce. He arched an eyebrow and smirked in petty amusement as he watched everyone else in the room but Miya slowly back away from Takami, before he stared right into Takami's eyes and using Legilmency to push forth memories of being in a Dementor's presence.

His efforts were rewarded when Takami's eyes widened and an involuntary 'Eep!' emerged from her lips. He cut the Legilimency attack quickly, as he had no wish frighten everyone else too badly. Winking quickly at Miya, who merely shook her head very subtly with a slight smile on her face, he looked around the room with a wide smile on his face. He was amused to see them all backed up against the walls of the room.

"Well then, when do you all want to leave?" he said aloud with a bit of mirth in his voice.

"Hold up, I still have a few more things," said Matsu impatiently while she shook her head in an attempt to clear the dementor's effects from her mind. "I have comm units for each person going out today. Like we said last night, not everyone will be going on this. Uzume will be staying with Chiho. Miya's taking the day off, so could you watch Kusano for a bit today, Uzume?"

Uzume nodded and she began to loudly collude with Chiho about which outfits Ku could be dressed in.

"Homura will be in charge of this mission, simply because she's the one Sekirei that most of these girls may recognize through her efforts to protect the unwinged. Toyotama, Shi, Musubi, and Harry will also be going. With today's information, I think it's important that Minato and Tsukiumi go along as well. Finally, Akitsu will stay behind to practice her Occlumency." Matsu turned to address Akitsu directly, "I believe Harry said he would like to test your shields when he gets back."

Getting nods of acknowledgment from each person mentioned, Matsu finished with last reminder. "Remember everyone. Homura is in charge. She says jump, you say how high."

She received the final nods she wanted and simply said, "Good luck!"

Homura stood up, giving off a decently aura of command Harry found himself proud to see. "Ok everyone, go get dressed in whatever clothes you're wearing out there for this. Meet down at the entrance in fifteen minutes."

The group broke up to go get ready. He saw Miya walk up to Akitsu and say something, before they both walked out of the room together. Harry wandered over to Matsu, who had not moved yet from her spot. He approached her quietly from behind, placed his hands on her shoulders slowly, and said, "Damn good job preparing everything. I looked at the rest of the information you prepared for the other girls we could've gone after, and it was all amazingly well done. Any success we achieve with this will be directly due to you."

Matsu's blush was nearly as red as her hair and she stammered her thanks unintelligibly. She quickly begged off, vague statements about some experiment she needed to run in her room by herself. The sudden realization that she had said all of that aloud caused to turn even more read, and she quick fled out of the room at a brisk pace.

Quiet laughter erupted from Harry because of how flustered the girl had gotten. However, Harry did not have time to laugh right now. He apparated directly into his room and changed into some comfortable cargo pants and a T-shirt. If their upcoming trip around town required him to bounce around on rooftops and do a million line-of-sight apparitions, he at least wanted to be comfortable, no matter how slovenly he looked doing so.

Harry penned a quick one-paragraph note to Karasuba and Haihane to let them know they were about to undertake their first anti-Higa mission now, and their target was Number 107 and the daughter of Takami. He also told her that he needed to speak to her personally whenever she had a free moment later on tonight. Winky popped off with the message, which was followed by Harry apparating down to the entrance of the inn. No one had arrived yet, so Harry sat down on the well manicured path, closed his eyes, and waited.

-o0o0o-

"Have I mentioned recently how freaking amazing you are Matsu," Harry said into his comm as a tactical hud was projected in front of his right eye into the sunglasses he was wearing.

"No, not in the past five minutes since the last time you said it, but I certainly won't complain if you do so again," he heard Matsu say into his ear.

"Quit flirting, Harry, and pay attention," scolded Homura to his right.

They had stopped on a rooftop to get a position update from Matsu when he had sent the information directly into sunglasses they wore. They could see an overlay of the city, and a directional beacon overlayed in their line of vision signaled which direction they needed to head to reach Shiina.

"You guys are roughly 800 meters from him, just slightly north, northwest of his location. You have a clear…. Oh," Matsu cut-off suddenly in all their ears, which caused each one of them to suddenly tense and listen.

"Guys you need to move now. Another Sekirei and her Ashikabi just approached Shiina. Go now," said Matsu with a tinge of worry in her voice.

"No need to tell us twice, Go people!" shouted Homura.

Harry thought it was no time for to dilly-dally, so he began line of sight apparating three times farther than he normally would, and after two jumps found him at the top of a stairway that overlooked a wide open public sitting area in the midst of a park.

Two Sekirei battled before him, a girl with an utterly massive hammer the size of the front of a car and another girl dressed in one of the most screwed up dresses Harry had ever seen. The girl in the dress actively avoided the entire conflict from what Harry could see, and she had not bothered to fight back once.

Harry could also see an Ashikabi in a green-pullover off to the side. H was loud and obnoxious the in way he yelled instructions to the girl with the hammer.

He felt the others all land behind him and take in the fight in front of them. "You're sure Shiina was a dude, right Matsu?" Harry asked into his comm.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm looking at the same you guys are. I have no clue what Minato's sister is doing making him where an outfit like that," he heard the surprised response come back.

Harry gave a look to Homura and waited for her to decide what to do.

Homura saw this, and gave a small smile in acknowledgment, "Let's go break the fight up. No need for anyone to get hurt out of this." Homura leaned in close, "Harry, I want you to hang back a bit, let the girls get used to protecting you for once."

"Got it," Harry said, and despite his orders, he felt the adrenaline start to pump in his veins.

"The rest of you, get down there, spread out and surround them. If they attack, try to knock them out only. Don't take their crests."

"Where's my sister at?" asked Minato.

"I don't see her on my scans, sorry Minato," they all heard Matsu come back with an answer.

"Let's do-," Homura was about to say, when they were interrupted by a loud shout from below.

"You heard me, don't say you're sorry you no good piece of crap!" said Ashikabi in the promenade. He apparently felt she had not fought hard enough in his opinion, so he started to beat and kick his Sekirei.

Harry saw red. He was about to apparate directly down there and start flinging unforgiveables when he felt Homura's hand on his arm. "Don't kill him, we'll handle it."

Homura looked at the rest of the girls, who all looked back, anger in their eyes. She spoke suddenly in the deadliest voice Harry had ever heard issue from Homura, "Let's go save our sister and brother."

All the Sekirei jumped and had surrounded the combatants within a few seconds. Tsukuimi struck first, a massive burst of water flung the abusive Ashikabi end over end at least thirty meters. The others created a perimeter, as Homura approached the girl he assumed was actually Shiina.

Harry waited a few more seconds before he apparated directly next to the beaten and bloody Sekirei who was on the ground. She moaned pitifully as Harry tried to take stock of the injuries she had incurred at the hands of her Ashikabi. She looked younger than his Sekirei and he would have estimated her age as a late teenager. She had short red hair and a torn and bloodied white school girl outfit on.

"Shh, it's ok, you're safe. He's not going to hurt you again, I promise you," whispered Harry to her.

"What happened to my Master?" the girl asked quietly, obviously in pain and clutching her ribs.

Harry flinched at the word. He was reminded again of Akitsu, and the inhuman abuse MBI permitted Ashikabi to subject these girls to.

"What's your name?" Harry asked, distantly aware of another girl who had just run up and shouted for Shiina. He caught Minato move towards her out of the corner of his eye. '_That must be Yukari_,' thought Harry.

"My name is Yashima, Number 84," the girl slurred into the ground as she slowly curled her knees to her chest in pain as she lay on her side.

"Did your Ashikabi Wing you against your will?" asked Harry. Toyotama had since joined Harry at the girl's side, and she had pulled Yashima's head into her lap and gently stroked the girl's hair.

"Yes, he is my Master, and I must serve him because of it."

"No, please look at me," Harry quietly requested.

The girl opened her eyes, and for the first time truly noticed she was surrounded by five more Sekirei than she had been moments earlier.

"This is Toyotama," Harry told Yashima while he gestured at the busty and athletic dark green-haired amazon who quietly ran her fingers through Yashima's hair. "She was winged against her will as well, but she's joined us. She's not my Sekirei, and it doesn't matter that she left her Ashikabi. We can protect you if you come with us. You won't have to fight anymore. No one will ever hurt you again. And if you're patient enough, someday you can find your _real_ Ashikabi and bond to him, and be rid of that loser over there."

All three looked as Harry gestured and Harry had to hold in a laugh as Tsukiumi again flung the green dressed idiot end over end with more bolts of water. Yukari, who had apparently heard what the Ashikabi had done to his Sekirei before she had arrived, chased down his still form, and stomped on the dude's gonads with her steel-tipped boots between the blasts of water from her brother's Sekirei. Harry secretly wondered how long her devotion to the abusive prick's emasculation would last though, because Yukari became more and more preoccupied with Tsukiumi's breasts between her kicks of righteousness.

Harry rolled his eyes at the circus sideshow of the Sahashi family and he turned his attention back to Yashima,

"Would you like to come with us? There are other Sekirei we'll be bringing to this safe house as well. Some have gone through things just like you. We're all going to make sure no one does things like this to you and your sisters ever again. We won't make you come, it's your choice. But we can offer you a better life than you have with him. And you'll never call anyone Master again."

Yashima looked just as broken and defeated as Shi did on the rooftop and her eyes literally screamed from both the mental and physical pain she had been subjected to. But hope definitely grew in them as well. Hope that the girl probably had not felt in a long time.

"I'll come, do I… do I need to do anything with my Ashikabi before we leave?" she asked with a slightly fearful look towards the bloodied pulp on the ground who was likely a eunuch at this point after what Yukari inflicted upon him.

"No, you'll never have to speak to him again if you don't want to, but it may help you if you say what's on your mind to him before you leave. He's not exactly in a position to hurt you for anything you might say to him. Go get it all off your chest if you want."

A small smile appeared on the girl's face for the first time before it shifted into a grimace of pain as she tried to stand up. Toyotama was instantly there, as was Musubi to slowly help the girl to her feet as she coughed and wheezed.

The two Sekirei helped Yashima walk over to her soon to be former Ashikabi. Harry didn't exactly want to intrude whatever personal cleansing Yashima was about to vent out, so he walked over to Homura, Shiina, Minato, and Yukari.

"So, everybody's cool over here?" Harry asked as he approached.

"Yeah, I think we're good. How's the girl?" said Homura as she gestured to the group that stood over the quivering mass that was currently screamed at by Yashima.

"She'll hopefully be fine, eventually. She's agreed to leave her Ashikabi and join us back at the safe-house. Another unwillingly winged," Harry said the last with a slight twitch to his eye, which was noticed by Homura.

"We'll help them, Harry. Don't worry. We can only do this one girl at a time though," Homura said while she squeezed Harry's shoulder.

Harry smiled and nodded, then turned to the two new members of the eclectic group. "So Yukari, right? Those are a nice pair of boots you got there. Want me to add some magical charms to them to maybe grow spikes out the bottom of them if you move your toes a certain way?"

His offer was rewarded with a truly evil smile from Yukari, while Shiina simultaneously gave an involuntary motion to cover his junk protectively, "That sounds wonderful. You're Harry? Homura says you're her Ashikabi," said Yukari.

"Yep, that's me: Dumbass Ashikabi extraordinaire. Your brother moved into the inn we're all staying at yesterday afternoon. Will you and Shiina be joining us there?"

"Yeah, we will be. What about that girl?" Yukari gestured over to Yashima who was being helped back over to their group.

"Well," said Harry aloud. "My initial intention was to take her to the safe-house, but for now she would be the only person there, and she's injured. So she'll probably come back to the inn with us for now. At the very least she needs to be healed, and she could probably use some company anyways after what she's been put through. She's been abused. No one should be left alone after being saved from that."

Harry had a sudden thought, '_This could take help Shi as well._'

Harry looked around for Shi. While everyone else had mauled the abusive Ashikabi, talked with Shiina, or guarded the fallen Yashima while she had been on the ground, Shi had been off to the side. She had patrolled the perimeter like she had been asked, yet she did not interact with anyone.

"Shi? Could you come over here?" called out Harry.

Shi came over slowly, obviously not sure what was about to happen. She still gave off that vibe of paranoia that would have had Mad-Eye nod in approval. Harry gestured for her to follow him over to the side. When she arrived, Harry whispered quietly to her. "This Sekirei, Yashima? She's been through hell with her Ashikabi. We're going to bring her back with us to heal her, but I'm really worried about her. Over the next few days, until we move everyone to the safe house, can you watch over her? Just keep her talking. I don't want her to shut herself off from the world."

Harry hoped Shi wouldn't see through his very transparent attempt to get Shi herself to open up a bit, but apparently she either didn't notice, or didn't care. Shi turned to watch Toyotama and Musubi bring Yashima over to the group, and then be hugged by Shiina and Yukari.

"I'll do it. I'll watch out for her," said Shi.

"Thank you, Shi." Harry decided to risk life and limb by giving Shi a quick hug and retreated back to the group. He had felt her tense up at the touch, and quickly moved away without acknowledging it. He knew she had a dozen daggers and knives hidden within very accessible pockets in her clothes, and he had no desire to push the introverted girl too far too fast.

He had one more task he felt he needed to do in order to give Yashima a clean start.

Slowly, he walked over to the downed moron who had unwillingly winged Yashima. Harry didn't particularly feel the need to call for an ambulance for the abusive prick of an Ashikabi, and the bastards long-term health was the furthest thing from Harry's mind at the moment. He peeled one of his bloody eyes open and froze it that way with a wand. What he was about to do usually sickened him whenever he did it in the past, but right now, he felt with absolute certainty it was necessary. His wand raised up to point at the bloody lump, and he found his center as he concentrated exactly on what he was about to do attempt.

"Obliviate," he shouted.

'_There. No memory whatsoever of ever having met Yashima,_' he thought. Then chuckled darkly to himself. _'…and if he happened to forget his toilet training as well, who am I to care?_'

As he returned to the group however, thoughts of other things he could've done to the Ashikabi quickly left his mind. He glanced at the top of the stairs where they had all initially looked down upon the battle when they first arrived.

There was someone there watching.

"Ok everyone, listen up. Do not react to what I'm saying. Keep looking in the same direction you are right now, understand?" Seeing the nods and the looks of curiosity from the dozen people who surrounded him, Harry continued and spoke into his Comm, "Matsu? You there?"

"Yes I'm here Harry, what's wrong?" came back the worried voice of the red-haired sex-fiend.

"The statue due north of us. Is there a Sekirei just behind it?" Harry asked. He had to move fast in order to stop Musubi before she could look. She looked sheepishly at him and he just smiled back while the group waited for Matsu's response.

"Yes, it's a Sekirei alright," said Matsu's worried voice in most of their ears.

"Homura? Musubi? Can you both flank and approach her from the sides?" asked Harry. "Let's find out what they're doing here. Give us two bursts of fire in the air if it's safe, and one if its trouble when you get there. "

Both Homura and Musubi moved instantly to the east and west without a word said. Shi walked over, took Musubi's place, and supported Yashima's weight with Yukari and Shiina sticking close the injured girl as well. Toyotama decided to take up the protection duty of Harry and now stood at his side.

Harry patiently waited about a minute before he saw two quick blurs fly behind the statue from opposite directions. There was silence for about twenty seconds before Harry suddenly saw two bursts of flame erupt into the air.

"Ok, I'm heading over there. Try and think of how we're going to get Yashima back to the Inn since she's injured. I don't think she can handle a portkey or apparition without injuring her further. And I'm not too sure bouncing across rooftops will do her good either."

The group collapsed into a discussion while Harry apparated up to the statue and wondered what on Earth was going to happen next.

-o0o0o-

Harry popped back into existence next to the statue to see Homura and Musubi standing with a silver haired bombshell between them. She had her back to the statue, not quite on guard, but definitely not relaxed either.

With a closer look at her outfit, he began to wonder just who picked out the clothes Sekirei wore. She had on a sort of white dress that had a neckline that plunged to just above her crotch. She was stacked in just about the opposite way of Akitsu. Where Akitsu was very curvy, this girl was waifish and yet still had massive curves. The longer he was in her presence, the more thought she was distinctly Veela-like Fleur or Gabrielle. In other words, she was yet another drop dead gorgeous Sekirei.

"Well Homura, what surprise do have we found this time?" asked Harry, very wary of how close he suddenly was to their unexpected guest.

"This is Taki, Number 65. One of Mikogami's, unwillingly winged of course," responded Homura while she kept both eyes on the silver-haired woman.

"Of course," Harry sighed.

"So what's your story? And what the heck is with that outfit? First the doofus lightning twins with their S&M getups, and now you looking like… well I don't know what," said Harry, who was consciously aware he was not quite ready to add yet another Sekirei conspiracy or whatever the attractive woman was likely about to propose.

The girl, who had become more unsure of her situation the longer she stood there, found some courage and spoke up, "Like Homura said, I'm Taki, Number 65. I was there down the street two nights ago when Akitsu joined you and you took out Mutsu and Yomi."

She took another deep breath, "I've been in contact with Number 22. She works for Higa. We both know you've been gathering Sekirei, yet not winging them apparently. And seeing Toyotama with you today confirms that she willingly went with you as well, even though she's winged already. There are a few of us in Mikogami's ranks who wish to leave, and all of Higa's remaining Sekirei wish to leave him. They would all jump at the opportunity for it to be you."

"What do you mean by 'join me'?" asked Harry suspiciously. No way was he going to rewing two Ashikabi's worth of unwillingly winged Sekirei. Harry cocked his head and laughed, realizing four days earlier, he would've had no chance of comprehending all the strange terms which were now standard fare in his own thoughts. '_Has everything really changed this much in four days?_'

This laugh at least seemed to dispel some of the tension in the air, even if he didn't mean it to do so.

"The other girls just want protection. Higa is ruthless, and he treats them terribly. They're just tools for him to use, there's no love shown to any of them. Mikogami is the opposite, but in the end it's just as bad. He doesn't view us as women. All we are is simply toys for a child to collect. Not that he uses us really for anything, he thinks of us as inanimate objects for him to somehow count some score with."

"We all know you were the one who Akitsu went with, so you must have been the one to figure out how to wing her. No one has any clue who you are, even MBI, so that means you know how to hide. 22 couldn't find anything on you at all."

Harry had to think about this. Were they ready to take on this many girls this quickly? There would be no other Ashikabi's in the safe-house, so they wouldn't need to worry about someone ratting them out. And they could all serve as additional eyes to keep Shi and Yashima from dipping into depression. Taki interrupted his thoughts.

"If nothing else, can you tell me how Akitsu really is? I miss her," she pleaded in a quiet voice while she likely misinterpreted the silence from Harry.

That last part got Harry's attention. He looked at Taki, and then looked into her eyes. He fell right into her mind without before he could stop himself. It was a jumble of worry for Akitsu, fear for what Mikogami might do to her and her sisters if he ever grew bored of them, and memories of Taki as she healed a brutally beaten Akitsu who had just been found abandoned in a park wearing nothing but a half-open bloody white button shirt. Finally he saw just a glimpse of Taki and Akitsu as they secretly practiced their powers together. They had combined them to form some death cloud of frozen icy air.

He pulled out of her mind, causing Taki to stumble and lean against the statue. "What was that?" she asked through ragged breaths.

"That… was me doing something on accident I didn't mean to do, and I'm sorry." Turning to Homura and Musubi, Harry said, "We can trust her."

He turned back to Taki and offered her a hand, as she now sat on the ground with her head in her hands. She breathed heavily still because of the accidental Legilimency, but at least she didn't have that dazed look in her eyes. "I didn't mean to, but I just fell into your memories. I saw you helping Akitsu, I saw you training with her. And I could feel your worry for her. She's fine, better than fine actually. I think you'll be very happy when you see her again."

"You really did wing her?" she asked, disbelief and hope fought for an equal chance on her face.

"Yes, I did yesterday afternoon. MBI did a bunch of terrible things to her, but I was to undo them. Pretty much every Sekirei I'm running across is ultimately going to be checked to see if there are any leftover surprises that MBI didn't want getting out. We can check you when you finally join us at whichever location we're staying at."

She nodded and smiled from ear to ear at the same time. "A lot of Mikogami's other Sekirei will be really happy to hear about Akitsu. And a place to hide and not worry about attacks will be even better."

"Speaking of that. I already had a plan in motion to get Higa's girls out. I interrogated those two idiots who were playing guard with Toyotama, so we already knew the six others weren't willingly winged. Mikogami? I didn't really have a plan for your group. We had mainly been focusing on making sure Akitsu was ok. Hadn't had a chance to ask her yet about the rest of the girls with him. How many are we looking at here?"

"There's myself, Himeko, and the twins, Mitsuki and Mitsuha. That's Number, 15, 38, and 39 respectively."

"Geez, so many names and numbers to keep straight," said Harry, realizing he's going to need to keep a list on him soon just to remember all of it. "So, how do you want to proceed?"

"As soon as possible if you can manage it," said Taki with the tone of her voice approaching begging.

"Look we'll help, but you and the three others will need to lay low for just a few more days. We're going to do something big soon, so huge that I can't talk about it yet. But after we've done that, we'll bust you and your girls out. Actually…" Harry put his hand to ear piece, "Matsu?"

"Yes Harry?" came back the response instantly.

"I'm going to give Taki here my communicator. If she needs help, I'm going to have her go through you to get assistance, ok?"

"Sounds good. We should definitely help her, and she's got great tits. Doesn't she, Harry?" Harry cringed as she saw both Musubi's and Homura's eyes widen.

"Matsu, are you talking privately to me or is this comm open to everyone?"

"It's open to everyone Harry," came back Toyotama's cool reserved voice, though he could definitely hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. "Though I think I'd like to come up there and judge the size of her boobs myself."

"Absolutely not!, Here." He handed the communicator to Taki after he thumbed the switch off. "Just remember, it's apparently an open channel, so everyone on it can hear it. And be prepared for some crude statements if you're taking to Matsu… and apparently Toyotama as well."

"We'll contact you in a few days. If you need anything before then, contact Matsu."

The girl nodded one more time, and turned to leave. She stopped and looked back, whispered a "Thank you," that was barely audible and was suddenly gone in a rolling cloud of mist that quickly vanished.

-o0o0o-

The solution to Yashima's evacuation back to the inn turned out to be very simple. Dobby came by and elf-popped her right into the inn. The inn was now close to full occupancy with the addition of Yukari and Shiina, so Miya had Yashima placed in one of the guest bedrooms of Harry's tent.

The reunion of Ku and Shiina was loud, cute, and obnoxious in the way any sudden party with a small child involved tends to evolve. It was a combination of kiddie fun and completely unsubtle adult humor and innuendo as Yukari turned out to be quite literally the most perverted person Harry had ever encountered.

And she was bisexual with no self-restraint whatsoever.

Luckily, her main victim so far appeared to be Tsukiumi. Harry may have found the need to banish her over furniture if she had attempted to grope Akitsu or Musubi. Homura likely would've roasted her alive if she attempted anything with her.

Yashima was initially placed into the care of Miya, and Shi dutifully oversaw to the remainder of her recovery after Harry had provided her potions. Yashima had broken bones, a concussion, and numerous contusions and bruises. Shi took her assigned duty as protector to heart, and Harry heard her soft whispers to the girl almost every time he walked by the room the two now occupied together inside Harry's tent. Harry just hoped they became friends when it was all said and done.

When the party began to break up into smaller groups that assembled and relaxed in various corners of the inn, Harry decided it was time for some solitude of his own. He figured Akitsu would be in a quiet place somewhere, so he attempted to find her first in her room. He found no luck there and decided to try the tree outside where she had meditated the previous day but again did not find his goal. He was now completely at a loss where he could find her. He was about to call Dobby to locate her, when a single piece of ice somewhat painfully hit the top of his head.

He looked up and saw her as she sat on the roof of the inn and gazed up at the late afternoon sky. He quickly apparated up, he sat down next to her.

"Hey," was his quick greeting after he kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Hey," she said and smiled in return as he sat down next to her.

"Nice little spot you found here. It was pretty darn loud in there for a while," Harry said while he gave the roof they sat upon a once-over. He figured he may need to throw some _Impervious_ charms on a few of the shingles that seemed out of place here and there.

"It was getting hard to concentrate with all of the noise, I tried out by the tree at first, then figured I would try up here." replied Akitsu.

He nodded with understanding. Harry looked at Akitsu for a few seconds while he tried to figure out the best way to throw out what he needed to say to her. He figured bluntness was probably the method of choice preferred by the girl, he said, "Taki said hi. She's very worried about you."

From the truly happy smile that lit up Akitsu's face, Harry knew the conversation he was about have would likely be a very happy one. Harry was just glad there was something in Akitsu's past that she could smile genuinely when the subject was broached.

-o0o0o-

Harry's talk with Akitsu on the rooftop lasted until Miya herself dragged the two back into the house as the sun set in the west. But the conclusion of the conversation with Akitsu echoed in Harry's head as he quietly sat down in a corner of the lounge.

"Will you rewing Taki? She was my only friend before you. She was the first person who ever cared about me."

'_How on Earth could you possible argue with a declaration like that?_' thought Harry in exasperation. He had three Sekirei bonded to him now. Two more were definitely on the way. He wasn't so obtuse not to realize what the looks Matsu gave him could be interpreted as. Hell he even saw the looks Uzume and Chiho gave him on occasion.

'_Sure, let's just throw Taki in for shits and giggles._' He thought in what he definitely knew was only mock-despair.

Harry was quite aware he would never leave a Sekirei denied and rejected if they truly reacted to him and wanted to be with him, but was all this fair to the girls he already had? The thing that scared him the most was the implication that he was possibly just days away from actions that would undermine the entire support structure of both Higa and Mikogami out from underneath them.

And all of those Sekirei would be capable of rewinging.

'_May be a good idea to visit Europe immediately after that happens. There's no way they can follow me there._' He pondered more and more ridiculous methods of rewing prevention by himself so that he could avoid the fate of a Sekirei harem with forty females when Winky popped in. "Miss Carsooba and Miss Heines can see you now."

"Great, can you go tell Miya that's where I'll be in case someone ends of looking for me?" Winky popped off and Harry disillusioned himself just to be safe. Then he apparated directly into Karasuba's apartment.

He found them both in chairs where they had quietly watched the nighttime skyline of the city. Lights were reflected in their faces since the rest of the apartment was in full darkness. They both drank from glasses, though Harry couldn't tell what it was due to the lack of illumination.

Neither acknowledged him as he quietly sat down in the seat that was between both of them. He was definitely curious why neither greeted him. There was even a lack of instant caustic remarks by Karasuba. Deciding something must be up, and it wasn't his place to disturb the silence just yet, he waited.

Eventually, Harry decided he wanted to savor a drink as well while he waited. "Dobby?" he said quietly.

"Yes, Harry sir?" said Dobby after he appeared. Karasuba and Haihane, already used to the behavior, didn't even flinch, though he could see Haihane's eye's shift to Dobby in her faint reflection in the mirror.

"Can you bring me a bottle of '_Le Pergole Torte' 1977_? I believe it was a Montevertine."

Seeing Haihane's questioning look, Harry explained, "My grandparents on my father's side were quite old when they had my father. I think they were in their late fifties when he was born." Seeing Haihane's incredulous look, Harry laughed. "Wizards live a lot longer than non-magicals. Easily twice as long, sometimes three times or more. They had all but given up on having children, and had already somewhat retired from running the family estate and businesses on a day to day basis and were settling in for a more comfortable lifestyle."

"From what I've understood, almost all Potters, in addition to managing the existing estate, usually pick one new business venture to develop themselves each generation. My grandparents chose wine. I actually own a few vineyards. The Veela I mentioned to you all earlier, Fleur? She actually runs one of my larger Vineyards in France now. So, in the course of all this, they became rather big wine connoisseurs and aficionados. "

Dobby popped back in with a dusty bottle, which became sparklingly clean with a wave of his hand. "They began to also invest in wines as a permanent asset for the estate, though they marked some bottles here and there for future consumption. The crate this bottle was in was one of the last they purchased before they were murdered in a Death Eater attack."

Haihane placed a rough, calloused hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze while forcing out a small smile for him. Kara was still sitting there, lost in thought over something or dead tired. Either way, he couldn't tell if she had heard a word he said.

"Would either of you care to try a glass?" Seeing them both nod, he uncorked the bottle magically, and waved his hand in a complex manner over the bottle to mimic the effects of aeration and decantation of the wine. He summoned Haihane's glass, vanished the contents within, and then poured her half a glass. He repeated the process with Karasuba, and then poured himself a glass out of a conjured crystal glass he had just created.

The wine got the first reaction he had seen tonight from Karasuba. After she swirled the liquid for a short time, she breathed in the scent and took a small sip. A few seconds later she looked at Harry, surprise etched upon her face and said, "This tastes absolutely amazing."

Haihane concurred, "I'm nowhere near the expert Karasuba is, but I think this tastes good as well."

They sat for about five more minutes in silence, all three lost in the magnificent view before them, when Karasuba finally spoke up.

"So I doubt you wanted to see us both tonight to get us drunk and have your wicked way with us?" said Kara, who had slipped the first vestige of her normal sarcasm into their conversation at last.

"No, but I wouldn't be against it either," Harry said with a smirk. He let the look slip off his face and said, "You're right, that's not the reason."

Harry set his glass down on a small coffee that was between them and the window they all looked out of. "Can I ask you something and get an honest answer, Kara?"

Harry could see how Kara almost gave him a glare, but reined it back in. She looked even more tired than ever afterwards. After she closed her eyes briefly, she nodded.

"What does Musubi have to do with the 'Sekirei of Fate'?"

Whatever Karasuba expected Harry to ask, that most certainly was not it. Her mouth dropped open, and closed with an audible click. "How do you know that phrase?"

"I had a discussion with someone. Someone who I would like both of you to meet someday, but not tonight. They said that the 'Sekirei of Fate' watches over me. What does that mean and who is it?"

After a few moments hesitation, Kara took a deep breath, and started to explain, "Remember how I said the second Discipline Squad was led by Number 8, Yume? And that she gave her life to save another Sekirei? Yume transferred everything that made her a Sekirei to Musubi when she felt Musubi was dying after we rescued her. That's how Yume died."

'_Oh no_,' thought Harry. '_More Soul-Magic. Why couldn't it be anything but more Soul-Magic_.'

Haihane had obviously never heard this story, because she sat there with her mouth wide-open. "I always thought Yume was severely injured in the rescue attempt and passed on?" she asked.

"No, that's what Minaka wanted everyone to think. They didn't want it known that a Sekirei was capable of something like this," said Karasuba.

"What were Yume's powers?" asked Harry, almost scared to ask. Number 5 was earth. Number 6 was fire. Number 7 was Ice, and Number 9 was Water. He would almost have expected Number 8 to be air, but he was already aware that the only other single digit that he hadn't met yet, Number 3 held an affinity to air. He was almost afraid to hear what Number 8 held an affinity to. But he had an idea that struck a rather deep sense of fear in him.

"She… it's hard to describe. She was a swordsman who could easily rival me or Miya. But that wasn't what made her powerful. She had the ultimate trump card. It was energy. It wouldn't cause damage to people physically, but it could knock them around or drain them of their strength if you got hit with it. I can't quite describe what it was. If you got hit dead-on with it, you felt like you had gotten flattened by a truck for a week."

'_Magic… no wait, a Soul-Magic Sekirei?_' thought Harry. '_So… if she gave her life and Musubi was dying…_'

"Wait, this is important. Was she dead after she saved Musubi, or did she appear merely lifeless?"

"Lifeless?" asked Karasuba, completely confused, and not used to the feeling. She glanced at Haihane, who appeared to have no idea where Harry's line of questioning was going either.

"Ok, let me back up a bit here. Remember the Dark Lord I told you both I took out. You know I left an awful lot out about that. When it comes down to it, what are the two things evil people always want? Power and Immortality."

"Well, the Dark Bastard's method of achieving Immortality was to split his own soul, and attach the pieces to objects keeping him on this plane of existence if his body was ever destroyed. I had the unlucky chance to play host to one of these pieces of soul for sixteen years after he failed to kill me properly as a one year old. It takes a cold-blooded murder to make this kind of thing. They're pure evil."

Confusion, shock, and disgust were written all over both of their faces. They were completely out of their league when it came to trying to figure out where on Earth Harry was going with his story, but they listened, completely enraptured all the same.

"I had to take another killing curse to get rid of it, and even now I kind of doubt the wisdom and intentions behind those who asked me to do undergo that particular method. Afterwards, I just knew there had to be another way to get rid of it. And I was right. The goblins had multiple safe ways to get rid of a foreign piece of soul within a living person. It would have cost me fifty galleons and an afternoon's worth of mild discomfort to do it. Native American Indians had ways of dealing with them as well. Apparently a soul phylactery isn't as rare or as hard to get rid of as my old headmaster said it was. Otherwise, the world would be completely overrun with evil immortal dark wizards."

"Anyway, after I got rid of it, I got very interested in knowing exactly what effects that piece of dirt had on me over the years, so I grabbed every piece of Soul-Magic literature I could find, and attended international conferences on them whenever they were offered. Suffice it to say, I've learned an awful lot about the subject. Some is stuff to give you nightmares. Other parts of it, is magic that could heal people of almost any injury and is probably amongst the purest kind of so-called light magic you could probably every hope to accomplish."

After a few moments silence, Harry asked Karasuba, "You say that Musubi was likely dying after what those scientists did to her before the rescue took place?"

"Yes, she probably wouldn't have lived much longer. At least that was the impression I got from Yume after she finished her part of the extraction and we met at the rendezvous," said Karasuba, who suddenly looked sheepish. "Some of the details of that conversation are a bit hazy. I was in full-bloodlust in that fight."

Harry nodded, and knew not to inquire further into that statement. "There's a specific kind of soul-magic, based on love. It's the exact opposite of creating a Phlactery. Instead of using hatred to split your own soul, you use love to use your own soul to help anchor someone else's soul until they can be healed."

"I don't think Yume gave her life to save Musubi's body from dying. She used her soul to keep Musubi's soul anchored until she could be healed."

Karasuba was still trying to reconcile what she remembered from that day to the information Harry had just gave her, so it was no surprise to him that it was Haihane who made the connections to what Harry previously said.

"So, you said that it was actually a very simply process to remove a soul that shouldn't be there," said Haihane, the thought process of working out the clues visible upon her face as she thought it through. "That means someone could've put Yume's soul back into her old body once Musubi was healed?"

"What happened to her body?" asked Harry, electing to cut straight to the chase. "There are ways of restoring her if her body isn't around anymore, some more unpleasant then others. But everything would be far easier if they had just hooked her body up to life-support and didn't mess with it. A body can live without a soul. It just needs to be taken care of."

"I don't know where it is now," said Karasuba. "For a while, it was in one of the stasis tanks in a lab underneath this tower. I used to go there a lot. Yell at her. Cry if I remembered to destroy the security cameras down there so no one would see. After a while, they moved it though. If anyone knows where, it would be Minaka or Takami."

"Takami, eh?" Harry looked at the glass of wine in his hand and was already starting to see the basis of a plan form in his mind. "She's supposed to explain her super-secret life to her kids by tomorrow. I assume the discussion will take place at the inn. I can ask about Yume… hell, any of the eliminated Sekirei then."

Harry looked up and glanced between both of his future Sekirei. A very satisfied smile formed on his face.

"How would you both like a really cool way to say, '_Fuck you very much_. _I quit_' to MBI?"

-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Minato (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Yukari (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 7 Akitsu / Harry Potter

Number 9 Tsukiumi / Minato

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 84 Yashima / Junichi Tanigawa (Unwilling)

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

Number 107 Shiina / Sahashi Yukari

Number 108 Kusano / Minato

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 5 Mutsu (Terminated Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 8 Yume (Eliminated Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

Number 15 Himeko / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 38 Mitsuha / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 39 Mitsuki / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 43 Yomi (Eliminated) / Mikogami

Number 65 Taki / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 87 Kaho / Oosumi Orihiko (Kidnapped along with Musubi as a child)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)


	11. Intimidation Failure

**Summary:**

Harry Potter / Sekirei Cross-over. Harry, forced into exile to save his heritage from thieves, begins traveling the world. While in Japan, Harry happens upon an intimidating woman dressed in black, and gets thrown into a plot he never saw coming.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter in _any _way. JKR has those rights... Also, I hear Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.

***Author's Note ***

Some back story on a few of the Sekirei has been changed, just cause I wanted to use the characters and needed them to come from a different place. If it bothers you, tough.

Chapter First Published: 2013-01-05

Chapter Last Update: 2013-01-05

**Chapter 11– Intimidation Failure**

Harry's plans for the next morning were promptly shot to hell. He was outside and deep in magical theory discussion with Akitsu, Homura, and Tsukiumi about their elemental powers when Miya suddenly came outside.

"Harry, why do I keep hearing chimes in my ear?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Get everyone inside! Now! The wards are activating. Someone is coming and the wards recognized that they mean us harm. Get Uzume, Chiho, Matsu, Akitsu, Kusano, and Toyotama under cover for now, let the rest of us deal with them. Those people can't be seen."

Uzume, Chiho, Toyotama, Akitsu, and Kusano were safely hidden within Matsu's safe-room within a minute. The rest of the house emptied and mock-played at lounging around the yard at strategic positions. Homura was in her guise as Kagari and casually leaned next to the front door while she smoked a cigarette with Harry next to her. Musubi and Shi pretended to tend the garden. Yukari and Shiina kicked a football around. Lastly, Minato, Tsukiumi, and Miya were just inside the inn's door as they waited to see who was about to show up.

They didn't have to wait for long. A white convertible pulled up with two men in suits and a woman inside. The driver was new to Harry, a man with dark hair and wearing a dark suit with sunglasses. The other man, who rode shotgun and allowed his hair to be tousled by the wind of the open roof, was their old friend Higa.

Finally, in the back see was Kochou, Sekirei Number 22. Harry easily recognized her as the Sekirei in the office with Higa that provided advisory assistance when Uzume visited to gain access to the assassination list. She was also apparently the mole in Higa's organization who Taki had been in contact with, as they both attempted to find ways for both Higa's and Mikogami's Sekirei to leave their unwanted Ashikabi.

Harry leaned over and whispered to Homura, "Dude in the passenger seat is Higa and the Sekirei in back is Kochou, the one who's been in contact with Taki. I have no clue who the other guy is."

Homura nodded, looked contemplative for a few moments, and then narrowed her eyes briefly, "This just got a whole lot more interesting, didn't it?" she asked.

A grunt was Harry's response. "Keep your eyes open, he's either here because he knows about Uzume and Chiho, or he's after that list. Worse comes to worse, play up MBI storming the Inn looking for suspicious information yesterday or something."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I agree as well," said Miya quietly while hidden through the open window to their right.

The car turned off, and the driver got out and opened the door first for Higa, then the Sekirei in the back. Higa had an arrogant walk to him. The walk of someone who was used to getting his or her way without a care in the world about whom they trampled underfoot in the process. Kochou again looked quite downtrodden just as she did a few days earlier, but Harry could see a bit more defiance in her that wasn't there when Uzume and him saw her in Higa's office.

The intruders walked through the gate and up the path as if they owned the place. Harry was quite proud of everyone visible from his perspective. He could tell with just a glance around that their eyes seethed internally, but unless someone knew what to look for, a casual observer would have no clue just how dire a situation they had just walked into.

Higa stopped a few meters in front of Harry and Homura. He clearly gave them a look that meant he viewed them as the local hired help and expected to be let into the inn. Harry chose to ignore them, and see what sort of reaction he got.

"Can I bum another cigarette off ya?" Harry asked Homura casually and loudly enough so Higa could hear.

While Homura pulled out her pack of cigarettes and lightly tapped one end, Harry conjured himself a lighter within the hand hidden behind his back. Harry hadn't smoked more than two or three cigarettes or cigars probably in his whole life, but he was just dying for an excuse to annoy Higa, and this was an opportunity that he couldn't pass up for the life of him. He could even imagine Padfoot standing off to the side as he rubbed his hands gleefully at what was obviously about to occur.

Harry watched out of the corner of the eye as Higa's face contorted as he tried to suppress the anger at not being paid attention to. The prop was delivered by Homura, and Harry lit up. He took a slow pull on the cigarette, and easily suppressed the urge to cough the noxious fumes. He turned his head suddenly, as he pretended to finally notice Higa's presence, and blew the smoke right into Higa's slowly angering face.

"Was there something you wanted?" Harry said as he looked away, not even bothering to keep his eyes on Higa. He glanced purposefully at the corner of the yard where none of the girls were standing. Higa and his minion followed his gaze, but Kochou didn't. He caught her eye, and noticed she now stared at him with wide-open eyes. A casual graze against her mind with his Legilimency told him all he needed to know. She knew who he was, and was doing all she could to hold in her excitement. A quick smirk and a wink brought a blush to her face. He nodded just slightly, and saw the gesture returned.

They had their ally within Higa's ranks.

"Yes, I'm a friend of a resident here. I came by to pick up something she was holding for me," said Higa in a sugary sweet voice as he turned back to face Harry. The tone of his statement would have been more appropriate out of the mouth of a used car salesman then this supposed powerful and upstanding businessman.

Homura spoke for the first time since Higa had walked up. "What resident would that be? There are quite a few people who live here." She spoke in a slow bored voice, and then took another draw off of her own cigarette.

"A former employee of mine, named Uzume," said Higa, who was obviously intelligent because he visibly began to show signs of realizing more was going on than initially appeared. "She has some documentation I loaned her for research purposes. I wish it returned."

"Uzume left yesterday, very suddenly. It was very odd," said Harry while he spoke in a mock-confused manner. "These guys with suits and sunglasses showed up afterwards and took all the belongings she had in her room. I swear they were perverts. They even took the cosplay outfits she had. No idea what they wanted with them though. If she had something here that belonged to you, those guys have it now."

Higa gave Harry a cold, calculated look. It lasted almost ten seconds, and it inwardly amused Harry greatly. If this guy thought for one moment he could stare someone down in a more effective manner than Snape he was delusional.

"I would still like to confirm it myself," said Higa without any more false pretense of kindness in his voice.

"Well, I doubt the landlady just lets in random guys in cheap suits off the streets to look into rooms. I think someone already moved into Uzume's room, in fact," Harry spoke, giving his bullshit conjurer free reign. He knew Miya was right behind the door and would corroborate anything he said. "I think that new girl Daphne moved into that room. I could be wrong though, I was never good with names."

Higa was obviously fed up with the pleasantries. He reached for the door handle and said, "I believe I wi-" but he was cut as Homura gripped his arm in a grip of steel.

"I believe we said that Uzume is gone. There's no reason for you to stay here," said Homura quite coldly.

The door opened at that point and Miya stepped outside. She had her mask of full-cheerfulness on. A casual observer would have no idea that this woman had destroyed armies and had the blood of thousands directly upon her hands.

Harry almost lost it though when Kochou saw Miya. Her eyes bugged out of her head and she took an three involuntary steps backward. There was no question in Harry's mind that Kochou knew _exactly_ who Miya was. At the sight of Miya, the poor girl's emotions went from carefully controlled excitement at seeing Harry to almost full-blown panic and terror at the appearance of Miya. Luckily neither Higa nor his 'Yes-Man' saw the reaction. They were thoroughly distracted as they favored Miya with equally unimpressed looks.

"And who are our guests, Kagari?" asked Miya as she slipped into her role of landlady with ease and referred to Homura with her cover-name.

"This gentleman wants to search Uzume's old room for something that's his. We told him she moved out. Fled is more like it. Told him there's already someone new in the room, but he didn't seem to care."

"What exactly were you looking for in her room? Those gentlemen who barged in here yesterday were quite rude as they took everything in the room. I'm surprised they didn't take the bed, instead they simply tore it apart as if they were looking for something. They didn't even pay for her last month's rent. Is that what you're here for? To settle her outstanding debt?" said Miya as she deftly lied through her teeth with her signature smile still plastered on her face.

Harry realized that the landlady act was truly that; an act. He wondered if he had ever really seen the real Miya. She had said kind and profound things in private to Harry on occasion. He had also seen her rage slip through and he had seen quiet and tired. Which truly was the real Miya?

Higa was about to respond, probably with something quite rude if the sneer that was slowly spread across his face was prophetic, when he was interrupted before he could begin.

The clip-clap sound of high-heels on the sidewalk drew all of their attention. The woman didn't walk, but sauntered up the path from the gate. She walked casually, as if there wasn't a care in the world that concerned her. She had a very low cut purple dress on that once again, seemed to hug massive curves and accentuated quite literally the largest chest he had _ever_ seen. She had black hair going down her back, and a quiet aloofness and flirtiness that reminded Harry vaguely of haughty movie actresses from old-time 1950's movies.

'_No contest. This has to be another Sekirei_," said Harry, inwardly incredulous at the bust-line of the female that approached the group.

Higa and his servant were nonplussed at the interruption, but Kochou's eyes were wide again. Whoever this girl was, she was obviously well-known within Sekirei circles.

"Hey Miya, I'm out of Sake, mind if borrow a bottle or two?" asked the woman as she brushed past Higa and ignored him completely. Harry had to bite back a chuckle at the look of irritation as she bumped his shoulder. It looked intentional, but she ignored him so perfectly afterwards that Harry thought she could definitely give lessons in casual indifference.

"Kazehana, what have I told you about drinking this early in the morning?" said Miya

'_Oh snap!_' thought Harry with no attempt to suppress the movement of his own eyes as they widened.

Kazehana, Number 3. The only member of the original Discipline Squad and the only single Number he had yet to have contact with or meet. She was the one who fell in love with MBI's crazy bastard of a CEO, Minaka. She was rejected by him, and according to Karasuba, '_She crawled into a bottle cause of it and hasn't come out since_.'

Unfortunately, Harry realized he wasn't the only one who recognized the name. The two witless wonders in front of him also realized who she was, and more importantly, that Kazehana was unwinged. The greed that suddenly manifested in Higa's eyes spurred Harry into action. Two waves of his hand, and both Higa and his butt-buddy were petrified.

"Excuse me, Kazehana? Please step away from the two Ashikabi you are next to who are known to forcibly wing Sekirei," Harry said to her softly.

Her eyes widened, and then suddenly narrowed. A completely malevolent look replaced the carefree attitude she had just moments before. A sudden clearing of a throat from Harry brought her back to her senses and she moved to stand behind Miya.

"Ok, screw keeping up pretenses." Harry turned back to Higa, looking the spoiled rich boy right in the eye. "Do you have any clue how badly you've fucked up by coming here, little man?"

Harry was well aware that Higa couldn't respond to him, but he had rapidly lost patience with the situation. "First you drive my very good friend Uzume away. Then you come here and act like you have some god-given right to push us around. We'll just ignore the fact you just started looking at Kazehana like some piece of meat that could serve you."

The rest of the Sekirei in the yard had by now closed in on the group at the door. Shi had removed her daggers from her sheaths. Musubi was absent-mindedly popping her knuckles after having put on her fighting gloves. Tsukiumi hadn't said a word as she had emerged from the house with Miya, she just stared down Higa with a thin stream of water casually flowing in a figure eight-like pattern just off the surface of her right hand. Shiina and Yukari, now prowled the group in circles back and forth as they looked… they just looked evil doing so in Harry's opinion. Harry made a mental note after a double-take at Yukari's visage never to willfully cross her.

And all of them, collectively ignored Kochou. Harry, figured this might be an excellent opportunity, so he glanced at Miya and indicated she should take over. She nodded, and smiled a truly sadistic grin that wouldn't be out of place on serial killers. The black demonic presence bloomed into full power, and all of their allied Sekirei did their best not to flee and instead focused on Higa.

Harry on the other hand, had quietly made his way over to Kochou. He winked again as he approached, giving the silver-grey haired woman a small smile. She gave the distinct impression of being a book-worm, with her glasses and somewhat conservative outfit that still somehow managed to emphasize every curve she had.

When he reached her, he spoke softly without preamble, "Taki made contact with us yesterday. I assume you're aware?"

She nodded, but did not say anything. She kept her eyes on Higa as Miya whispered words in his ear that were inaudible from this distance. Whatever it was, it was working, because Harry now was given his second and third proofs that people can still lose control of their bowels while petrified. '_That's going to do nothing for the interior of that nice little convertible_,' thought Harry.

Harry decided at the minimum he should quickly provide a bit of a safety net for Kochou. He reached into his pocket and took out a One yen coin. Quickly marking it by putting a slight slash through the tree on the coins reverse, he made it into a portkey that went to the safehouse.

"Here, I've just turned this coin into a portkey," he whispered as he handed it to her. "If you say the word 'activate' while touching it with bare skin, it'll teleport you to a safe-house we've created. Only use it if it's an absolute emergency, ok? Just hold out a few more days, and we'll get all your sisters out of there."

She nodded, still looking straight ahead. The only visible difference was that her breathing had quickened. "Oh, and if you get a chance, pass on a message for us. Tell Taki that Akitsu can't wait to see her again."

Again, she only acknowledged his words with a nod, though by now her blinking had increased and she had wiped her eyes and nose once. Harry made sure Higa and his minion still could not see him, and he leaned in to whisper into her ear as he gently squeezed her shoulder, "Stay safe, Number 22."

Harry walked back over to the unfortunate duo who had invaded today. Harry couldn't honestly believe how stupid these two were. They had done no intelligence work, no background checks, and obviously had not scoped out the place at all. They were both completely unaware there were other Sekirei here that were openly hostile towards them.

Today's actions drove home the point he would have to devote more time to how they were would ultimately deal with Higa. Harry realized Mikogami was done for. They could likely absorb and hide his Sekirei at any point without any difficulty with the little kid still in the hospital. Higa however, had not only his own Sekirei, but he had contracted out a number of other Ashikabi to 'serve' him, which essentially made him the gangster in charge of a loosely aligned coalition of thug Sekirei.

If they weren't careful, Harry could see this thug army being turned against him. They had no idea on its overall strength or numbers, and that was information they were going to need _yesterday_ in order to properly plan. He looked back over at Kochou. He could ask her now to send the information through Taki, but he didn't want Higa to notice him walking over to his Sekirei again. He would have to ask Matsu to request Taki pass the question on to Kochou. A little convoluted, but it should still get them the information in the end.

Harry forcefully dragged his attention back to the present. It appeared that Miya had finished her round of intimidation. As he approached closer, he realized his nose had wrinkled with the inhalation of some disgusting smell. He looked down and promptly discovered why. Higa's expensive custom-made shoes were surrounded by a puddle of liquid that slowly expanded outwards. Harry knew it was wrong to laugh, but he just couldn't help it. He had to turn around, silence himself, and cover his mouth as he shook in silent mirth. After a few moments to shake the laughter out of his system, he composed himself and rejoined the group.

Despite his best efforts, he could only catch the tail end of whatever psychological warfare Miya utilized on their guests. It was rather hard to concentrate on what she said, with that damned Hannya demonic thing in the air. It assaulted his Occlumency shields rather thoroughly, and broke his concentration.

"… and that's why Eunech's are so important to some societies, don't you agree?" said Miya.

'_Who da what?_' thought Harry as those final words sank in. He looked around and noticed right away that even though Homura was in a fully female form right now, whatever comments Miya had made caused her to lower a hand down to cover herself and visibly squeeze her legs together.

"Ah, young man, you've returned. Could you please release our two guests. I believe they were just leaving," said Miya. Harry was inwardly thankful that they had made it through the entire incident so far with no one mentioning his name. Anything that prevented anyone else from getting a leg up on them was an advantage Harry wanted for as long as possible.

Another casual wave of his hand and the two petrifying curses were lifted from the two morons. He really wished he could obliviate them, but he highly doubted someone like Higa would have told no one his destination today. There were probably digital records and planners that wouldn't be affected by an obliviate as well, and all of that together would simply lead to more questions and interference from Higa than he really wanted to deal with.

"Now, I do believe the landlady stated it was time for you to leave. I would take your Sekirei with you, and don't return. Normally, we follow a no-violence policy to live here," Harry said.

Harry leaned in close to Higa, who openly trembled in fear now that the petrifying curse had lifted and how deep the hole he had dug himself had been realized. "…but I'm sure if I asked nicely Miya might make an exception, _if_ I really asked nicely enough."

For his encore, Harry fell back onto his bread and butter intimidation method. He stared right into Higa's eyes and brought up every memory of agony he had endured because of Voldemort. The _Cruicios _during the aftermath of the third task, the utter agony of the possession in his fifth year, and the brief earth-shattering pain of the second killing curse he had felt before he succumbed to the darkness of death in the forest outside of Hogwarts during the final battle. All were fair game for emotional ammunition, and the figurative 'shot across the bow' he just used them for with Higa could be missed by no one.

"Now," Harry said quietly, as he barely registered every person present including Miya had slowly backed away as he had immersed himself so deeply in those painful memories he was in danger of losing himself in them. "I believe you were leaving. Have a nice life, gentleman. Pray you don't meet us again."

Higa and his still unnamed toady couldn't have run away faster if they had tried. It took all of Harry's self-restraint to not cast a shoe-lace twisting curse upon both of their shoes. All that would do is delay their departure The two passed Kochou without a second glance, and she looked fleetingly back at Harry. He gave her a rueful smile and a nod, which she returned, before she followed her Ashikabi into the car, which peeled out and sped down the street before her door had even shut.

The group sat in silence and watched the trespassers drive into the distance and speed through red lights as they hurried to get away from the inn.

Homura spoke first, though the statement was to the group more than to any one individual. "They are still going to be a problem, aren't they?"

"Them? No. The Ashikabi's that Higa controls and could point at us? Yes," responded Matsu as she exited the door behind them. The rest of the girls who had hidden inside the inn were right behind her.

"You all heard everything?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, Matsu's got everything bugged in the inn, which is surprisingly creepy now that I think about it," said Uzume who was now stared at Matsu with a scowl on her face.

"We're going to need information on all the Ashikabi that have sworn allegiance to Higa. Matsu, can you go through Taki, and have her ask Kochou for the information? I would've asked her when I slipped over and talked to her just now, but I was more concerned with getting her an emergency portkey at the time."

"Sure Harry," said Matsu, running off back into the inn to contact Taki.

"Toyo, any information you can provide about them would be useful too," Harry added.

"I'll go let Matsu know what I can," and Toyotama ran up the stairs after Matsu.

Silence rolled over them again. Harry did not want the group morale to plummet too far down into the dumps after the uninvited visit, so he went to his old standby.

"Miya? I didn't hear all of that oh-so pleasant conversation, but when I came back over, I only caught one word. Eunuchs?" Harry asked with a mischievous smile. He laughed softly Homura and Minato covering their non-existent and existent junk respectively the moment the word was uttered out loud again.

"Pray you never do anything to hear the entire story, Harry," said Miya with a sweet smile, who promptly walked back inside the inn. He saw Homura and Minato nod their heads exuberantly like bobble-heads. Harry figured this may, just this once, be an occasion to leave the sleeping dragon alone.

-o0o0o-

Kazehana's presence made an immediate impact upon the inn. She was obviously a drunk, but fortunately not really a stupid one. Her tolerance was so extreme that an Irish bartender would be envious and glad to have her as a customer. She could walk up to just about anyone and start a conversation about almost anything, which ultimately meant nothing in the end, but left you feeling better about the world when she walked away. She seemed to be closest with both Homura and Uzume, and that trio plus Chiho were off in the corner bringing the curvy dark-haired Sekirei up to speed on events that have transpired.

Harry, however, had other things on his mind. He pulled Musubi aside and figured now was as good a time as any to inquire about some of the things he had learned from Karasuba the previous night. He led her into the tent in his room, and they both sat down upon a couch within the large family room inside.

"Musubi, I have some very odd questions I need to ask you."

"What do you need Harry?" asked Musubi, her head slightly tilted in confusion.

"I need to know… what you know about Yume?"

"I don't know much about her. Karasuba said she looked like me. That Yume protected me from bad people who did bad things to me when I was little."

"Well, I think Yume did more than just protect you. I think she gave… everything to make sure you stayed alive after you were kidnapped."

"What did she do?" asked Musubi.

"Well, before I tell you, can I try something?" Getting a nod from Musubi, Harry looked pointedly at her, staring right into her eyes, "Yume? Can you talk for a few moments if you have the power to do so?"

The change was immediate. Musubi's whole aura and presence suddenly felt different. The way she held her head and shoulders shifted just enough to be perceptible, and her eyes took on a heavy, tired look instead of that bright innocence he had gotten so used to from Musubi.

"Figured it out, have you?" asked Yume with a small smirk upon her lips that had just a hint of sadness to it.

"Yeah, though I admit I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with it without my mom mentioning the 'Sekirei of Fate'."

Yume nodded, and said nothing further. She looked at Harry expectedly, as if almost knowing where this conversation would go.

"Do you know how you accomplished what you did for Musubi?"

"No, I really don't. It just happened actually. It took a while to even realize what occurred. By that time, I realized I was stuck here. I try and help Musubi out if she gets in over her head, but otherwise, I just sit in the background and observe."

Harry smirked inwards. He got the feeling it wasn't Musubi at all who jumped in the tub with Akitsu and him. And his quirked eyebrow told Yume as much because she instantly blushed, "Well. There was that one time too…"

Harry laughed. He couldn't help but laugh even harder after looking up at Yume when he saw the size of the scowl upon her face. "You have no idea what it's like. The girl is a saint. She's never even thought about stuff like that. It had been years, and I needed to…" she finished quietly, with an even deeper blush on her face.

And this only caused Harry to laugh harder. Yume gave crossed her arms and gave a "Humpf" that was worthy of Hermione. Eventually Harry calmed down, got up and sat next to Yume. He leaned in slowly and kissed her upon the lips, but the Norito that was unleased was exactly like Musubi's, which made sense to Harry after the fact. Yume could only be winged while within her own body.

"Well, I asked all this because I know how to put you back," said Harry.

Yume didn't react. She just stood there dumbfounded. Eventually she gave a small shake of her head and lunged at Harry, giving him a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," was what she kept repeating into Harry's ear.

"Hopefully it'll be easy," Harry said into her ear. "Karasuba said that, up until at least a few years ago, they still had your body untouched in stasis down in the basement of MBI Tower. They moved it somewhere, but she has no idea where. We're going to ask Takami later on today if she knows. If she does, we'll get your body out of there, swap you around, and let you get back to kicking ass."

"You really mean it, you can do it?" asked Yume. From her tone, it was obvious she feared the idea of the whole concept being a joke still on some level.

"Yes, there are rituals to create you a new body. Some good, some bad. But the whole thing is practically a cake walk if we have your original body. What you did is one of the purest forms of magic possible. Based solely in love. I think magic decides to reward people who dare to make such a sacrifice for another by making the way back easy."

"So I could've been put back years ago?" said Yume slowly.

"Well that depends. Do you feel that Musubi is still injured? What you did anchored Musubi's soul to this plane of existence long enough for her to get the medical help she needed. You joined your soul to hers. Once that happened, in theory, you didn't need to be there for her anymore."

"Yes, she's fine now. She's so strong now. Body, mind, and spirit. My little bird grew up, fell in love, and grew her wings. I can't wait to follow in my sister's footsteps."

"Well, I'll be glad to have you, if you want me," said Harry, earning himself another hug and a few sniffles from Yume.

"Thank you for what you've done for Karasuba. I could never get through her pain. She wore it as a shield against the world. She killed just to see if it would deaden what she felt. The pain she felt from killing was different from the pain in her heart. I think she mixed them up and thought it was pleasure, rather than just a different kind of pain. But you showed her the truth. You did what I couldn't."

Harry decided to tell her a bit about what he knew now of Kara, "She misses you, you know. She used to go down to your body in stasis. Yell at you, and cry a lot too. It was probably the only place she let herself go. Then they even took that away from her when they moved your body away. I think she's going to be very happy to see you. I think they all will be."

Harry decided there was way too much serious stuff being thrown around. Yume was going to end up having to go dormant again soon inside Musubi, at least he could send her off smiling. "We'll have every single Sekirei from Numbers 1 through 10 except Mutsu under the same roof. Just think of the party we can have? Though I imagine Akitsu would love any private party with you present again."

That got the blush from Yume he was looking for. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, giving him an honest smile. "I'm looking forward to all of it Harry," and with that, she leaned forward and kissed him. He could tell it was Musubi connecting with him to form the Norito, but he could feel just the tiniest sliver of Yume in there as well now that he knew to look for it.

They sat there quietly, groping and petting lightly for a few minutes before breaking apart. Harry took one look at Musubi and knew that Yume had relinquished control back to her sister. It simultaneously made him sad and more determined. Sad that Yume was forced to live like this. Sad that Musubi had moments where she wouldn't be in control of her own body and had no clue as to why. And he felt the flame of the old determination to save anyone who needed it grow within him.

"Hey, let's go back and join everyone else," said Harry finally.

They both stood up, Musubi leaning in close and wrapping her arm around Harry's back. "Did you find out everything you needed to know, Harry?"

"Yeah, I think everything's going to work out fine."

And for one of the first times in his life, Harry was able to say that and mean it.

-o0o0o-

The rest of the afternoon was slightly tense. Everyone knew a confrontation was possible whenever Takami finally arrived. Takami supposedly had a temper to rival the extremely violent outbursts that Yukari had shown the previous day. It was needed apparently to survive Minaka's idiotic plans whenever the moron came up with something new.

Minato had walked up to Harry and directly asked him to stay for the meeting, and he also implied he wouldn't mind if any of the other Sekirei in the inn wanted to stay as well. The guy had slowly started to grow on Harry. He still was rather meek most of the time, but he had a strong heart, and if you pushed him just far enough, he fought back with a vengeance. Harry would have to just see if he could get him to fight back a bit sooner so no one would think of him as a push-over like Harry's initial impression of him.

Takami arrived mid-day. Homura left and escorted her once again into the main lounge. She initially balked at the sight of so many people and demanded somewhere private to speak to her children.

Harry simply smiled serenely as Minato worked himself up into a self-righteous furor at her indignation at having to tell the truth in front of witnesses.

"These people have never lied to me. These people helped not only save the Sekirei of your daughter, the man who she is already falling in love with, but they also helped save a Sekirei they didn't have to help. One who was being forced to attack Shiina and while simultaneously being beaten by her Ashikabi when she didn't fight well enough. One that is upstairs right now safe upstairs in Harry's room and recovering thanks to their efforts."

"I trust these people to do the right thing. Something I can't say the same regarding you," he finished his speech and stared down Takami with a glare that was quite impressive despite his lank form. Minato had stood and paced the room while he gave his short speech. He _did_ have a presence in him, Harry realized; it was strong, and it was almost like he had an aura…

'_Eh?_'

Stealthily, Harry palmed one of his wands, and sent a silent diagnostic spell at Minato. Then he looked at him with his Mage-Sight just to be sure.

"Holy shit," Harry muttered low enough that only Miya inadvertently heard him at his side.

Wizard. Minato was a full-blown wizard. Completely untrained of course, but all the potential was there.

He looked around the room, and instantly saw Yukari was the same. Takami had the dull presence of an extremely weak squib, but it was there as well.

'_Well, isn't this interesting,_' thought Harry. He was having trouble wrapping his head around this new-found information. Was it of any use at all, other than eventually getting them wands and teaching them?

Feeling a nudge at his side, he saw Miya looking at him questioningly. He leaned over and whispered, "Minato and Yukari are Wizards. I just noticed it right now. No idea what good this information does us or them though. I'll tell them later today, they have enough to be worried about at the moment."

Miya looked contemplative, then nodded her agreement and turned back to the spectacle in front of them.

"Fine, you want the truth? I didn't want you two anywhere near the company. You've seen how far MBI exists outside normal laws. It would have taken only one slip up from either of you about what we were working on, and they would've killed either of you without question. You were children for god's sake."

"And then there was the possibility that if it were publicly known who you were and how you were related to me, someone would use it against you. There were foreign countries constantly trying to steal information or kidnap people. They succeeded in taking Musubi and another Sekirei at one point, and we lost one Sekirei rescuing them."

"I didn't want you involved in any of this," Takami said finally. Her bravado had finally deflated and her proud shoulders slumped. "I wanted both you and your sister out of the city as much as possible, so there was no chance you could be involved. I wanted you safe. Ignorant yes, but safe so there was no threat to you. Then, in a matter of days, you both were in the middle of everything."

"I'm sorry for lying to you both. But I'm not sorry for trying to protect you from this. There's no way I could quit myself. Everyone working there knows the risk of being there. If you try and run, Minaka's private army tracks you down and kills you. The only thing I could do was keep you two away, but I failed at that too."

Harry watched Minato and Yukari, and felt quite proud. They had not budged an inch. A seventeen year old Harry Potter would have heard this sob-story and immediately forgiven the sins that had been done to them. However, _that_ Harry Potter was dead and buried in the fires of betrayal. This Harry Potter, apparently like the Sahashi children, went over every detail that they heard, and corroborated it with their own knowledge, looking for flaws and holes. They almost seemed to expect the half-truths and outright lies that Harry had learned to assume would be given to him by those who think they hold responsibility.

He caught Yukaki and Minato looking at each other, coming to some sort of agreement. He saw the subtle nod pass between them both, and they turned back to their mother. "We forgive you, for now. From here on out, you'll tell us everything about what is going on at that company. No matter how trivial, we want to know," said Minato mechanically, without any emotion or inflection to his voice at all.

Takami stared dumbly between her children. Looking back and forth, hoping to find an opening of compassion, but she found none. Finally she nodded her head and slumped her shoulders and began to weep. Homura was at her side at an instant with an embrace, and Takami held onto Harry's Sekirei like she was a lifeline.

Harry watched the whole situation passively. He had his own questions for Takami, and Minato had just given him the perfect lead-in. He would wait a minute or two more, and dive right in. He needed to know where the eliminated Sekirei were stored, and if Yume was amongst them. He also needed to know if Karasuba had access to this area, or if they would have to blast their way through security to reach it.

Finally, Takami regained control of herself. The entire room was still watching the scene uncomfortably, when Minato finally extended an olive branch. "As long as you don't lie to us, mom, everything will be fine." A quick three-way embrace passed, and Harry caught Minato's eye over his mother's shoulder. A quick glance and a gesture with a bit of slightly unethical Legilimency let Minato know Harry's intentions, and Minato nodded.

The group separated, and Minato cleared his voice, "I think Harry has something he wants to ask you mother."

Harry saw the Takami wince. Apparently the woman thought the big questions were over with for the day. He dove right in, "My question is pretty easy, though it has rather far-reaching implications."

Takami nodded her reluctant acknowledgement that she was ready to hear the question.

"Where are the eliminated Sekirei kept after being taken back by MBI, and is Yume's body amongst them?" asked Harry.

Whatever kind of question Takami was expecting about MBI, that was certainly not it. The rest of the room seemed shocked and confused by the question as well.

"Why do you need to know where Yume's body is being kept?" asked Takami, confusion clearly shown in her face.

Harry smirked. The kind of smirk that told everyone that he knew something they didn't. "It's quite simple really. I'm going to wake her up."

Silence.

Quite a few of the girls present were older, single-digit Sekirei. They all knew who Yume was, and more importantly, they were all aware of the fact that no one had yet to figure out how to bring a Sekirei out of the coma that was induced by an elimination. The fact that Yume didn't actually incur a Crest-based elimination was unknown to almost all of them.

"You're going to do what, Harry?" Miya asked at his side.

"I said I'm going to wake Yume up. She's a different case I believe than all the other eliminated Sekirei, though I think I may like to take a look at waking up a few of them as well. Maybe not the two idiots that were guarding Toyo and running Shi into the ground, but most of the others."

"You're sure you can do this?" asked Takami.

"Yume? Absolutely. So long as her body has been kept healthy," replied a very smug Harry. After all, the procedure was incredibly simple after all. No need to mention alternative methods at this point.

Takami stared at Harry a few moments, battling herself internally. Harry could see the silent debate actually being fought through her unoccluded mind. Finally she said, "Yume isn't very far from where she was before. She's now one floor down, on a top security sub-level that cannot be accessed via the normal elevators. The rest of the eliminated Sekirei are there as well."

Harry nodded, trying to figure out how to plan what he had nebulously thought of the previous night. "I'll need Matsu to get me the schematics if possible. I'll get Karasuba and Haihane here later to help plan it, because this will be their MBI encore."

"What?" asked Takami. Her eyes were bulging at the mention of Karasuba.

"Oh, I guess no one's told you yet," Harry said, giving her a lopsided grin that was sure to infuriate the woman. "Funny how those pesky secrets tend to crop up and bite you in the ass."

Takami visibly and audibly growled at Harry, and Harry could feel Miya's silent giggles suppressed next to him.

"If you must know, I have a theory, that I plan on putting into practice right after we bust out Yume and however many of her sisters out as we can. I think I can re-wing Sekirei."

A gasp was heard throughout the room, as not all people had heard of Harry's theory yet. "It's a theory, but it's based on a lot of precedents that exist in the magical world. Haihane and Karasuba have both reacted to me, when they were already bonded to an Ashikabi. It was a weak bond, and more importantly, an involuntary bond. We've avoided re-winging thus far, but if we steal Yume's body, then that's just asking for trouble for them, so we'll pull them out at that time and do it then."

The newcomers like Shi, Kazehana, Tsukiumi, Shiina, and Takami were all stunned by this proclamation. None of them looked to be saying anything for the time being, so Harry continued. "This needs to stay secret for now. No one can know about this until we get the Sekirei bonded to Mikogami and Higa along with the assassination list all under protection."

Takami apparently had heard enough and apparently wasn't going to be very difficult sell to turn against MBI, "Well I can get everyone the information on the sub-levels easy enough. I even have some of them on a datapad that's not on the direct MBI VPN. So there won't be any log of me accessing the information for them to backtrack. Regarding the Sekirei though, they're all in stasis tanks, built from designs we found originally on the space ship. You'll either need to figure out how to move the tanks, or build your own for temporary use."

"I can transport them whole instantly anywhere in the world, as long as I know what kind of power they need and we have the computer controls for them already in place," said Harry dismissively. "That part doesn't worry me. It's the security we'll run into on the way there. I still haven't heard hide or hair from Matsu or anyone else on what wizards Minaka is employing at MBI, and that's very troublesome."

Silence gripped the group for a few moments. Everyone was looking to Harry for ideas and plans, which he thought was fine, but he definitely wanted to make sure there was a group effort behind this. For too long he had been forced to do everything on his own. Right now, he was surrounded by intelligent and capable women who were definitely quite up to the task of running the entire show if need be.

Harry decided to at least give them all a nudge, and see where they ran with it. "So, how about this? Matsu, Takami, could you work together to get the floor plans and stasis tank specifications together? Matsu, any tech you need, call Rio. He's my financial elf. If it can be bought anywhere on this planet, he'll find a way to get it and likely have it to you faster than you can believe. After that, Miya, can you look over the blueprints and figure out insertion points, etc? Right now I think it's safe to assume we can go right in the front door, or we can apparate and start directly from within Karasuba's apartment. I'll take whatever plans to Kara later on for a second opinion then bring the whole thing back for you to look at for your final approval."

"Homura, normally I would ask you to lead stuff, but I think it's rather appropriate for Kara to lead whatever plan we ultimately come up with inside that building."

Homura nodded, "That's fine, running the rescue missions for Sekirei is more than enough stress for me right now."

"We'll decide later tonight who goes. We probably won't need everyone. Think about if there's anything else in that building noteworthy as well. Like slipping Matsu in somehow and stealing the entire contents of the mainframe or something," said Harry

The group as a whole turned to Matsu, who had a look of manic glee upon her face. The demonic glasses had shifted once again, letting no one see her eyes through the glare on the reflective lenses.

"Well, a couple of you have stuff to do. Come get me if you need me. I'm going to go help Akitsu with her Occlumency"

-o0o0o-

Akitsu's progress impressed Harry greatly. He always wondered what would have happened if someone had simply given him a book about Occlumency all those years ago and simply said '_read it and try it on your own first._'

Then again, he probably never had half the motivation as a fifteen year old that he saw in Akitsu right now. The woman was absolutely driven with a desire to learn and master the mental discipline. Harry had long ago learned that Snape had no intention of actually teaching him Occlumency. Long-sessions of quiet meditation were the beginning steps of learning the art, something he was never told. Then, once someone could instantly clear their mind, very light probes would be sent at someone via Legilimency. This would allow the student to recognize what the probe felt like in order figure out the best way to react to the foreign intruder and not panic. This of course never happened with Harry. The very first lesson, Snape had performed _Legilimens_ probes with the strength of sledgehammers.

Akitsu was already at the point of clearing her mind, and she was quite happy with how it helped her control her emotions already. They proceeded to the next step and attempted very light probes, where Harry simply allowed himself to flit across her senses of sight and smell. He wanted to avoid memories for now, since he was well aware her memories were likely quite traumatic.

The few times he had accidentally gone too far into her mind and seen something she would have rather not relived, they would sit and talk about what had transpired. The removal of emotional attachment and pain from memories was one of the best defenses a trained Occlumens could have at their disposal. So long as a memory could inflict pain, fear, or sorrow in some manner, it was a weapon that could be used against the Occlumens. Time after time, Harry and Akitsu discussed her fears and her pain. The emotional weight of the memories wouldn't go away with merely one session, but over time, Harry could help Akitsu move past her memories.

Memories could be shared deliberately through Legilimency, and Harry figured it could help him become closer to Akitsu if he did so, especially after he saw so many of her own private memories. Through Legilimency, a memory could be shared almost instantly. Hours inside shared memories would pass in seconds in the real-world. Harry easily allowed Akitsu access to his own through an open and inert Legilimens probe he placed in the center of Akitsu's mind. A few instructions later allowed her calm presence to be led directly into the heart of Harry's own mind. He controlled the probe, thus he could control what she saw.

Memories from Harry's life began to play to the both of them. He showed her the day he found out he was a wizard. They rode with an eleven year old Harry in the boats on the Black Lake at night, and she saw the unblemished and illuminated ancient castle for the first time. She stood beside him in silence and watched his classmates sorted and held his hand as they relived the fears of rejection he had that the hat might not think him good enough to be at Hogwarts. He showed her his first quidditch match, including the first attempt on his life that occurred at Hogwarts.

On and on the memories went, year after year at Hogwarts. The memories slowly getting darker, more painful.

Akitsu's sympathy and love flooded the mental connection they shared the farther along they went. It was the equivalent of the tightest Hermione hug or the simplest and lightest comforting touch of a hand upon his all wrapped into one. They emerged several seconds later from the probe, but hours had passed for Akitsu, who wiped the tears that were beginning to fall from Harry's face as he wiped those that fell from hers.

After what just occurred, Harry definitely couldn't describe the dynamic between all of his Sekirei as even. At the moment, Akitsu easily knew more about his life and understood him probably the best, especially after the memories he had just shared. Karasuba would be a close second after all the time they had spent together simply talking with each other. Musubi, he would need help with. The knowledge that Musubi was really two people, and that he had been intimate with a second soul that was trapped inside her, was rather… odd. It didn't frighten him, and it surely didn't bother him in a way that made him feel misled. But he felt that Yume was going to need to come clean with Musubi once she had her body back.

That left Homura and Haihane. Homura was likely always going to go to Takami first for all of her emotional and physical needs. Harry actually wondered if he would ever actually even be intimate with Homura, since it was clear that at some base level, she still thought of herself as a man. All he could do is support her as a brother if that was the case. If she didn't want the love of a husband from him, he could provide her the love of family.

Then there was Haihane. On the three occasions he had been around her so far, she had been very easy to joke with. But he wanted to know more about her, because at this point, she was still largely a mystery to him. He guessed that would come during the next few days, and he hoped to grow as close to her as the others.

Five women, with two more likely coming with Yume and, if he was reading the signs correctly, Matsu. Akitsu desperately wanted to convince him to pursue Taki. Harry was overwhelmed by the love he felt from Akitsu towards the only other person who had ever truly helped her. Sekirei within MBI tower were competitive, so no one would overtly help her within the walls as she was verbally and sometimes physically brutalized there. Taki was the first and only one who had ever done so. Seeing Taki through Akitsu's memories, it wasn't hard to begin to feel those emotions towards her as well.

Besides, it didn't hurt the girl was damned hot too. '_Quite_ _Veela-like'_ thought Harry, before he almost snorted out loud at the stupid comparison. Why was it that whenever a wizard saw a beautiful female with white hair and a massive pair of knockers that their first thoughts always were '_She_'s _certainly quite_ _Veela-like?_'

His internal laughter was interrupted by the popping in of Winky.

"Master Harry Sir. Miss Miya, Mistress Homura, and Miss Matsu request your presence," said Winky with a bow.

"Thank you, Winky. Tell them I'll be right there." Harry looked at Akitsu, and gave her a kiss.

"You did great with the Occlumency today. Unbelievably good actually. Try this again in a few days?" asked Harry.

"Sure, I think I can be a lot further by then," Akitsu said with confidence.

"Great, see you later. Time to plan for an assault."

He joined the aforementioned women in the lounge, where they gathered in a plan review. Miya had outlined three vectors of assault, each listing pros and cons. There was a frontal approach, right in the front doors. It certainly had a Hollywood movie sort of feel to it. It would definitely cause the most casualties to their enemies, and also place themselves at the most risk of incurring losses. It also was the longest route, since they would have to go up five floors, and backtrack once through a security checkpoint to another internal elevator that would go to the main sublevel group of floors. The second route was to start at the roof of the building. Line of site apparition would be easy, as would portkeys. Problem was, the upper floors were where the senior staff was, so even though they would be disillusioned, they would be going through more checkpoints.

The third was to apparate into either Karasuba's or Haihane's apartments, and proceed to the lower levels while disillusioned. It was a superior insertion point than the roof, and bypassed much of the higher security checkpoints they would have otherwise had to go through.

Matsu had already ordered the parts they would need to hook up the stasis tanks for the Sekirei. After discussions with Miya, Takami had almost begged that they get all Sekirei out of the basement labs, even the violent ones. Takami did not trust MBI in the slightest with them, and would rather they be in stasis at Harry's safe-house than with MBI where they could do further experimentation upon the comatose girls.

As of now, the tentative plan was to gain access to the secure levels with Karasuba using a hacked security clearance card. They would use portkeys to move all tanks to the large room in the basement of the safe-house. Takami stated that as of right now there were thirty-seven Sekirei in stasis that had been eliminated. Mutsu stood as the only termination thus far, and Harry privately doubted he would have saved the prick even if he still had been alive.

Matsu had also provided a few devices to tap into the MBI mainframe. Wherever possible, they were to attach the devices to LAN and Network cables in order to provide them back-doors into the MBI network. Harry's eyes slightly glazed over at the explanation of how they were going to accomplish this feet, but Homura, Kazehana, and Toyotama all assured him they were well aware how to connect the data sniffers.

They had their tentative plans outlined, and the equipment, power sources, backup generators, and computer controls would all be arriving overnight courtesy of Harry's house elves. All that was left now was to brief Karasuba and Haihane on the mission, incorporate any of their suggestions and alternative plans into the mix, and get the combined plans back to the Inn.

-o0o0o-

After Harry's arrival via apparition into Karasuba's apartment that night, he was surprised to see her deep in meditation. Surrounded by candles, she wore simple white cotton panties and a very tight white camisole. Her long grey hair wasn't loose like it normally was. Instead it was pulled up into a tight bun in the back, but still left the front as messy as it always was. The temperature in the room was quite warm, so she was likely quite comfortable despite her near lack of attire. He would have thought her at perfect peace, and that was his first impression upon his observation of her still form.

Until he saw her eyes.

They shifted back and forth rapidly beneath her closed eyelids, and Harry could not help but wonder if he had caught her as she performed battle meditation.

He decided to wait for her mediation to run its course. Quietly, he stepped over to the window and gazed out at the city from this view at night one last time. If all went well, they would never step foot in this room again beyond tomorrow. He still had fleeting moments of worries for Karasuba and Haihane. His idea of re-winging was still a theory at this point, despite the possession of knowledge deep down in his heart that it would work flawlessly. The idea of bonding to these two specific women pushed him with almost a singled-minded purpose forwards. He wanted to be with them, hell he wanted to claim them like some prehistoric cave man and drag them around by their hair while grunting '_Oooman, Oooman_.'

Most of all, he wanted to provide both of them a home and a family, since neither of them had ever known one previously. His own family was growing, and he couldn't wait for Kara and Haihane to take their rightful place within it. '_Maybe that's what is so appealing about all of this_,' thought Harry to himself.

'_I'm finally getting a family._'

A throat cleared softly behind Harry and brought his attention back to the present. Karasuba walked over to him and stopped just behind him before she wrapped her arms around his chest. She rested her head upon his shoulder and just watched the city with him, both pairs of their hands clasped upon his chest.

Finally, she asked, "Will it happen tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it'll happen tomorrow."

There was silence, as they just stood there. Harry could feel her breath upon his neck as she breathed in his scene. "Do you think it will all work out?"

Harry looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "I know it will work out. And you'll be right next to me when it does."

-o0o0o-

Haihane joined the two of them ten minutes later, dressed in sweatpants, flip flops, and a t-shirt with some logo he had never seen before on it. She jokingly cursed him for the interruption of her video games and asked him to reschedule tomorrow's raid for the day after, because there was a TV show she was dying to catch.

Her smile was in the jokes, but the humor never reached her eyes. She was well aware of how important tomorrow would be and had transitioned into a deadly serious fighter seconds after she took a seat.

The threesome reviewed the plans, options, and notes the others had produced through the day's efforts Here and there Karasuba and Haihane would offer improvements. A '_go left_' instead of '_go right_' here. '_Take out this camera here before proceeding_' here, or '_wait for this patrol that sweeps every five minutes here._'

No plans were drastically changed, but they offered insiders information that they would not have been able to acquire on their own without weeks of covert observation. The well-formed plans went from well-formed good ideas to a tactically sound primary route with multiple alternative plans under their guidance and suggestions.

Haihane was very excited about the idea of stealing all of their sisters back and the possibility of their eventual revival. Karasuba was more apprehensive, simply because, as she surprisingly admitted aloud, she was scared to face Yume again.

"You already have faced Yume again. I'm sure you could talk to her tomorrow before the raid really kicks off if you wanted," said Harry

"What?"

"She's there, if you want to talk to her. She's inside Musubi. Hopefully soon she'll be back where she belongs, but she's always been there watching. She knows all about us, and she's happy for what you found."

Karasuba only nodded, too lost in her own thoughts to respond. Harry turned to Haihane, "So you ready to blow this soda-pop stand?"

"Is that your goofy way of asking if I'm ready to give MBI the bird tomorrow?" she said with a gleeful smirk on her face..

"Among others. Well?" Harry responded, while his own smile threatened to stretch ear to ear.

Haihane's half-smile faded and left a contemplative look on her face Harry had not witnessed before. "It'll be nice to leave. No more fighting people who just want to live their lives. Life I think will be a lot simpler maybe, but maybe not. I don't know…"

Harry enjoyed the sight of the normally quiet yet sarcastic girl get a bit tongue-tied in the attempt to express herself, so he stayed quiet. When she looked at him, he just gave her a look that said, '_Well, go on_,' which earned him a half-hearted glare.

"I think, the stuff that depresses me won't be there anymore. I won't have Benitsubasa around being a bitch. A lot of the… _morally_ questionable things we do won't happen once we're with you either. I'm sure we'll still fight, like tomorrow. But I won't be asked to assassinate someone because Minaka got up on the wrong side of the bed on a given day."

"No, you can sit on the couch and watch TV with me in the house I've bought here. I think you'll like the place, Musubi absolutely went nuts when she saw a few of the rooms," said Harry.

"It'll be nice to sit and relax more, and not chase down leads about where Akitsu was seen eating a bowl of noodles at over lunch," said Haihane with a roll of her eyes.

"Is it that bad?" asked Harry.

"Yes, it has been rather ridiculous, but I think its tapering off now," said Karasuba as she finally shook herself free of her contemplations about Yume.

"That's good then at least," Harry started to feel a bit at a loss for what to talk about. Kara was obviously still somewhat deeply in thought about Yume. But he didn't want to blow-off Haihane either.

"Kara?" Harry asked. He heard Miya call her 'Suba, but he bet no one else would dare call her that, and he quietly thought he was probably the only one who dared call her Kara. Especially with how her eyes would soften each time he would say it. "You should go get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be very draining emotionally for all of us, and I have a feeling the three of us will be up quite late tomorrow together anyways."

"Up late, huh?" asked Haihane with a lecherous grin on her face.

"Yeah, and Kara needs her beauty sleep." Harry leaned back so both of them could see his face and threw out the full-blown Albus Dumbledore eye-twinkle into full effect. "After all, she had me quite concerned a few nights ago about her stamina. I wouldn't want you getting too tired tomorrow after all."

Karasuba's eyebrows steadily rose the entire time he spoke, and Haihane attempted and failed miserably to stifle her giggles. Karasuba's face broke into a half-glare, half-smile and was about to fire back with a retort when Harry held up a finger over her lips to silence her.

"Ah-. All I wanted to do was make you smile, and you did." He leaned over and hugged her tightly. "One more day Kara, then forever."

He felt her nod of acknowledgement and breathed in her hair that she had let down after their plans for the next day had concluded. Her hair smelled of apples, and it was the first time in his life he enjoyed that smell in years after he had associated the smell for so long with the Weasley's orchards. She shuddered at the way he inhaled the air around her neck before she composed herself, stood up, and then straightened her tight fitting top. Harry conjured a robe and helped her into it.

Afterwards, he turned to Haihane and asked, "How about you show me your room, since I haven't actually seen it yet and it's your last night here? Unless you bunk with 'Nubs or something like that? Then I think I would have to decline."

Haihane laughed, "No, if I had to room with her I would've gone crazy a long time ago. Sure, let's go."

Karasuba walked them to the door, and Harry told her at the threshold, "Think about what you would like your 'home' to look like. What kind of art, what kind of silly knick-knacks. What would make some place feel like yours. After tomorrow you'll have a real home to go to."

The tall Sekirei looked contemplative before a lazy grin spread across her face. Harry didn't even need to guess what she was thinking of and said, "…and I highly doubt you need an entire wall full of Samurai swords in your bedroom, no?"

Karasuba actually pouted and stomped her foot, which would have been quite comical if it hadn't come from someone who could normally kill with the barest thought or motion.

"I'll think of something else then," she said with a half-glare.

"I'm sure whatever you think of will be great, especially when you let me buy it for you," said Harry with a half smile as Haihane and him walked out the door.

-o0o0o-

Harry and Haihane entered her room. He was surprised at how it was the exact opposite of Karasuba's simplicity. Posters of various bands, movies, and movie stars from around the world were plastered across the walls of the spacious room. Dirty laundry was everywhere, and Harry had visions of the time he saw Ghostbusters II where Bill Murray had a grading system for just how '_dirty_' the clothes really were. There was a huge TV hung on the wall with an entertainment center that overflowed with random video game consoles and other devices. The massive couch placed in front of the TV had a coffee table with three stacked empty pizza boxes on it, and there were scrunched empty cans of soda everywhere.

He felt like he had entered a frat house.

Harry turned to Haihane, mouth half-open in shock to see her look at him and wince. "Well, I'm sure you know where everything's at," he finally managed to say.

She grinned sheepishly, "No one ever comes in here. I clean every week or so. The MBI maids won't clean my place any more often than that because of the mess."

"Well, at least I know what to get you whenever you get gifts," Harry said, trying to keep the mischievousness out of his smile.

"Oh, really? What will you get me," Haihane said, very excited about the prospect of presents from the man she liked more and more with every meeting they had.

Harry leaned in close and deliberately built up the anticipation. He mock-whispered into her ear, "Books."

Her horrified face and loud exclamation sent Harry into a fit of laughter.

"You're such as prat, Harry. Don't you dare buy me books, ever! My room is and forever will be a learning free-zone," said Haihane as she poked Harry with each uttered syllable.

Eventually Harry gained enough presence of mind to control his laughter and called out, "Dobby?"

"Yes Harry Potter Si-…" the elf trailed off from his usual greeting. Eyes wide and looking around, his smile was almost looking gleeful at the mess present in Haihane's room.

"Dobby, I need you to clean this mess up, do Haihane's laundry, and toss out all the trash. Also, I want you to get some trunks arranged for tomorrow so Kara and Haihane can pack and empty their places out quicker."

"Yes sir Harry Potter sir," and the elf vanished, but there was no pop. As they both sat down on the couch, they saw clothes and trash disappearing from the floor. The room was spotless in under five minutes. The last sound they heard was a trunk being set down in the corner before a small pop announced Dobby's final departure.

They weren't sitting next to each other on the couch, which for some reason Harry found awkward. Getting up, he moved and sat down next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder and allowing her to lean into him.

"So, we haven't had a chance to be alone yet?" said Harry finally into the silence.

"No, we haven't," said Haihane, and Harry couldn't tell if there was a touch of sadness there.

"It'll all change tomorrow, ok?" he said softly. "And besides, you have me tonight."

"I thought you just wanted to see my room?" said Haihane in a quiet voice that betrayed how she didn't quite believe what she had heard.

'_So she was feeling neglected_,' thought Harry with a bit of guilt.

"And I have seen your room. Now I'd like to stay here for as long as you want me here tonight?"

She pulled away and looked into his eyes, a small smile playing on her lips, "I'd really like that, Harry."

They talked for hours. Haihane had at this point heard much about his life, so instead, Harry now got to hear about Haihane's life. Despite her number being 104, she was brought out of hibernation when the MBI adjustors decided she had the necessary traits to be involved in the Discipline Squad.

She talked about her training, how initially Yume and Karasuba both trained her and Benitsubasa, and then after Yume's death they received an impromptu initiation into the squad and Kara continued their training on her own.

She talked about years of work she had put into her training. It wasn't just weapons and physical conditioning. She had gone to numerous classes on battle tactics and strategy. Her only saving grace during this time was music and television. She was never a big fan of meditation to pass the time like Karasuba did, or shopping on MBI's dime like Benitsubasa enjoyed. If one were to give Haihane a couple of good movies and a few bowls of popcorn, that would have provided all she needed to enjoy life.

They slowly delved into the deeper things that affected her. It seemed all Sekirei he had come across had been wronged in some manner. Haihane's was to be unknowingly winged to the CEO of MBI's secretary. The Squad was taken out to dinner one night, after a successful retrieval mission. A spy from a foreign government agency had stolen some MBI test data. The squad easily recovered the information, while they simultaneously impressed upon the annihilated foreign agents the depth of MBI's displeasure at the necessity to send people across the world to retrieve its property.

Upon her return to her apartment, she popped in a movie and began to eat some of the leftovers from their team dinner the previous night that had been sent to her room. She used the chopsticks that had been included in the take-away bag, and with her first bite found herself winged. Rushing to Karasuba's room, she found her mentor gearing up to go and find and kill whoever had winged her as well. Benitsubasa wanted no part of it, she was just happy to have been winged.

Their plans of retribution ultimately fell to the wayside when Minaka told them they would simply be put down from afar if they caused trouble now. It took her months to even find out who her Ashikabi was, and when she did, she put Natsuo in MBI's hospital for two months. Upon his exit from a hospital bed, Karasuba topped her damage inflicted and left Natsuo in a state that took him six more months to recover from.

Now Natsuo avoided them, the constant limp and back pain a bitter reminder of how the girl's treated betrayal.

"What if I see him tomorrow?" asked Haihane later as she lay naked in bed while Harry slowly worked the anti-scar cream into her pale skin.

"That's up to you. No one can tell you or Kara how to react tomorrow to someone who's betrayed you. I was groomed growing up to 'forgive' all who committed transgressions against me. All that ended up doing is leaving more good people dead while the guilty sat there smiling and unpunished. Life has consequences, and people shouldn't be shielded from the results of their own actions."

Harry kept up his meticulous application of the salve over muscles of the leg he currently worked upon. He dutifully tried to ignore the fact Haihane insisted her well-shaped ass stayed uncovered while he did this.

"In the end, the only advice I'll give you is to not do anything without Kara there. Don't take away her chance for justice by acting alone. Decide together."

Harry kept up the inspection of the condition of the scar tissue he had focused upon. The skin was definitely more flexible than it had been earlier in the week when he had performed the first healing session upon a few of the worse scars. Many of the faint minor ones were now almost impossible to see, leaving only the remnants of the numerous medium-sized scars on her body.

"Do you want me to do your front as well?" Harry asked quietly, trying to not sound like a pervert who simply wanted to feel up a hot girl.

She raised herself up on her elbows, and gave her hair a shake while simultaneous squeezing her breasts outwards by pressing her elbows into them. She gave Harry a very sultry look and said, "I'd very much like if you did my front Harry."

Harry couldn't help but blush at the incredibly sexy pose she had just displayed to him. Her smile only widened when she took in his red cheeks. She turned over slowly, and once she was on her back, she slowly lifted the leg furthest away from him, giving him an intimate look at her in all her shaved glory.

He started applying the cream to her lower legs first, taking easily three to four times the amount of time needed to work it into her skin. As he slowly progressed upwards, he could hear her breathing become shallower, and her lower lip had parted while her eyes closed.

Moving up to her thighs, he could feel the rough edges of some of the scars he hadn't directly healed earlier. As his hands passed over them, he could feel her body tense up. She was definitely still self-conscious of them.

"You're beautiful, you know that, right? Scars don't mean anything to me," he told her after he leaned in and cupped one of her cheeks with his palm.

"I… just don't like them," she whispered.

Since Haihane was already nude, he felt it wouldn't hurt to remove his clothes to prove his point. His clothes were off instantly, leaving him naked as the day he was born, and every one of his numerous scars prominently shown to her.

"Do you care about my scars?" he asked as he towered over her.

She had to drag her gaze away from his manhood as she finally looked over his body. Her eyes travelled over the scars on his arms, shoulder, and the massive scar on his chest from surviving the second killing curse.

"Do my scars matter to you?" he asked again.

"No, they don't," she easily said.

"Then why do you think I care about yours?" he asked with a smile, while he lightly ran a finger over a scar on one of her breasts.

She didn't have the massive breasts of Musubi or Akitsu. They were larger than Homura's though, which still meant they were quite ample. Like her lips, her nipples were extremely pink and quite small

She closed her eyes, and as he tweaked her nipple, she gave a small gasp.

"Let's finish up the cream. May I stay here tonight with you? Nothing will happen other us probably spooning all night long."

"I'd like that," she said with a smile.

Twenty minutes later, found Harry pressed against Haihane's back, one arm under her head and another wrapped around her as he slowly traced circles into her stomach.

-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-

Current Residents of Izumo Inn:

Harry Potter (Ashikabi)

Chiho Hidaka (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Minato (Ashikabi)

Sahashi Yukari (Ashikabi)

Number 1 Miya Asama

Number 2 Matsu / No Ashikabi

Number 3 Kazehana (Former Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 6 Homura / Harry Potter

Number 7 Akitsu / Harry Potter

Number 8 Yume (Presumed Eliminated Ex-Discipline Squad Member) / No Ashikabi

Number 9 Tsukiumi / Minato

Number 10 Uzume / Chiho

Number 17 Toyotama / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 40 Shi / No Ashikabi

Number 84 Yashima / Junichi Tanigawa (Unwilling)

Number 88 Musubi / Harry Potter

Number 107 Shiina / Sahashi Yukari

Number 108 Kusano / Minato

-o0o0o-

MBI Headquarter Residents:

Minaka / MBI CEO

Sahashi Takami / MBI Sekirei Adjustor / Friend of Homura

Number 4 Karasuba (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 104 Haihane (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo (Unwilling)

Number 105 Benitsubasa (Discipline Squad Member) – Natsuo

-o0o0o-

Previously Encountered / Mentioned Sekirei:

Number 5 Mutsu (Terminated Former Discipline Squad Member) / Mikogami (attacked Takami)

Number 11 Hikari / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 1)

Number 12 Hibiki / Seo (Lightning Twin / "Doofus" Twin 2)

Number 15 Himeko / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 18 Ichiya (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 22 Kochou / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 31 Sai (Eliminated) / Higa

Number 38 Mitsuha / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 39 Mitsuki / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 43 Yomi (Eliminated) / Mikogami

Number 65 Taki / Mikogami (Unwilling)

Number 86 Katsuragi / Higa (Unwilling)

Number 87 Kaho / Oosumi Orihiko (Kidnapped along with Musubi as a child)

Number 101 Oriha / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Oshino / Higa (Unwilling)

Number ? Kujou / Higa (Unwilling)


End file.
